And one: No. 11 Duke men's basketball flounders late in loss to No. 1 Kansas

After each Duke men's basketball game this season, check back here for the Player of the Game and more. Duke lost a close one to Kansas in the Vegas Showdown Tuesday, and the Blue Zone is here to break down the game: 

One player: Tyrese Proctor

The heavyweight showdown between blue bloods was framed as a competition between an experienced, top-ranked Kansas group and a freshman-led No. 11 Duke team, but junior Tyrese Proctor certainly proved himself as the Blue Devils’ most effective and experienced player in the loss. He led Duke in scoring with 15 points, with all of his seven attempts coming from behind the arc to notch a career-high five threes made. Proctor’s season highlight came at the end of the first half, where he buried a buzzer-beater over Kansas’ Dajuan Harris Jr. to cut the Jayhawk lead to two entering the locker room. Proctor’s impact was not limited to just scoring, as the Sydney, Australia, native added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. While the Blue Devils dropped a close one at a neutral site, head coach Jon Scheyer should certainly feel good about the growth of his veteran guard, who has gone 20-for-40 from deep in six games this season.

One word: Mistakes

For Blue Devil fans, the final stretch of Tuesday’s contest looked eerily similar to Duke’s loss to then-No. 19 Kentucky two weeks prior. With 48 seconds to go and the Blue Devils down one, freshman Cooper Flagg drove to the post and attempted a spin move. However, Kansas forward Flory Bidunga was there to steal it from Flagg's hands. After a defensive stop and timeout, fellow freshman Kon Knueppel made his way to the post and attempted to kick out the ball to an open man, but the Jayhawks stuffed the pass and guard Rylan Griffen snatched it away. With three seconds left, the Blue Devils were forced to foul, and a pair of made free throws complicated Duke’s comeback.

One stat: Eight misses

That being said, the Blue Devils still had a chance. Knueppel got a decent deep look off a ball screen from center Khaman Maluach, but his desperation heave rattled out as time expired. The miss was indicative of Knueppel’s entire night, as the generally excellent shooter went 0-for-8 from 3-point range, his worst showing of the season. However, in lieu of efficient shooting, the Milwaukee native showed off excellent facilitation skills. The freshman finished with eight assists, the highest of any Duke player this season. Even better, six of his dimes came in the second half, including two on back-to-back triples early in the period. Knueppel will need just a single three in the Blue Devils’ next contest against Seattle to improve on a subpar shooting performance against Kansas, but his playmaking skills will be important for Duke going forward.