ATLANTA— Duke had an answer for every Kentucky run. Except the last.
No. 19 Kentucky defeated No. 6 Duke 77-72 in a game that lived up to its Champions Classic name. Trailing by double-digits after halftime, the Wildcats kept clawing their way back into the Blue Devil lead. And their last strong effort made the difference.
"I'm incredibly proud of our team. I thought we came out, played a great first half and really competed at a high level," head coach Jon Scheyer said. "We just kept answering and it came down to one more play at the end. Give them credit, tip your hat to them and we're gonna grow and learn from this."
Caleb Foster rebounded the ball with 30 seconds left and Duke called a timeout with the game tied at 72. Scheyer had a simple call: Give the ball to his freshman phenom.
However, Cooper Flagg lost the ball, and Otega Oweh connected on two free throws at the other end. Flagg once again turned it over on the subsequent possession, essentially sealing the deal for the squad from Lexington, Ky.
"I'm glad he had that trusted me to put the ball in my hands," Flagg said. "It didn't work out, but I'm still going to look for it no matter what."
Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr drew a blocking foul on Tyrese Proctor and finished nicely off the glass for an and-one going into the under-four media timeout. His successful free throw afterwards tied the game at 67; it was shaping up to be a down-to-the-wire finish.
Duke looked for answers on the offensive end, as seemingly every possession down the stretch ended in a turnover or improbable shot attempt. Flagg rose over the top of Koby Brea and scored a hoop with the harm. But Carr responded with an and-one of his own, and Kentucky led 72-70 with under two minutes left.
Brea fired a rocket of a pass into Brandon Garrison to make the game 63-61, and a Kerr Kriisa 3-pointer off a ball screen made it a one-point game with five minutes remaining. When the Blue Devils missed two more 3-pointers — a key theme throughout the second half — it looked to be anyone’s game.
The Wildcats came out of their under-12 timeout with a full-court press, as they were within one possession for the first time since the middle of the first half. After a high-scoring affair in period one, the Blue Bloods locked in on the defensive end. Kentucky’s experience inside plus shooting woes for Duke meant nothing would come easy for the Blue Devils.
On top of this, the injury bug hit Scheyer’s squad in the second half. Graduate transfer Sion James took a screen to the shoulder and was out for the remainder of the contest. His defensive intensity and steady backcourt presence was missed.
Maluach also was gimpy after injuring his lower body in the first half, and was forced to come off with 9:10 remaining after dealing with cramping. However, he briefly returned with the game tied at 67.
Kentucky came out of the halftime locker room and immediately tightened the game. An Oweh triple and Amari Williams finish inside shrunk Duke’s lead to four. But the Blue Devils didn’t panic and went back to what worked. A shot-clock violation forced by freshman Kon Knueppel led to the under-16 media timeout in the second half. Knueppel fist-pumped confidently on his way to the bench as his coach applauded his efforts. Just as quickly, Duke responded and brought its lead back to double digits.
The next few minutes of the game turned a bit sloppy on both sides as missed shots and layups were abundant. Flagg didn’t hit on either of his free throws, and the squads ran up and down the court to no avail. Seven straight misses ended as Lamont Butler finished an and-one reverse layup to cut Duke’s lead to 56-53 with 11:18 remaining.
"They executed really well down the stretch," Scheyer said. "I think that's where that experience for them really paid off. They shared it. They were patient. Give them all the credit the world."
Mark Pope’s team’s signature offensive 3-point barrage was on display early, as the Wildcats moved the ball with ease and knocked down their first five triples — from four different players. They took a 19-13 lead after a Jaxson Robinson free throw as “Go Big Blue” chants rang through State Farm Arena.
But the contest quickly turned in the team from Durham’s favor. Two keys bolstered the Duke offense in the first half: free throws and transition opportunities.
The Blue Devils were in the bonus with more than nine minutes remaining in the first half, and took advantage of its opportunities at the charity stripe. Flagg and Knueppel made five straight at the line and a subsequent Flagg layup capped a 13-5 Duke run to give them a 28-24 lead. This completely shifted the momentum of the first half.
The Blue Devils made a concerted effort to push the ball after every rebound, and James capitalized on a 6-0 Blue Devil run with a slam of his own in transition. Duke only had one turnover in the entire first half, and scored 11 points off of miscues in comparison to Kentucky’s zero.
The pick-and-roll game was lethal for Duke. On back-to-back-to-back offensive sets, Maluach’s presence as a lob threat kept the Wildcat guards honest. First, Knueppel used his body to finish inside on the left. Then, Proctor fed it up for an alley-oop to his fellow international teammate, and finally, Maluach finished an offensive rebound to give Duke a 10-point lead, 32-22.
On the flip side, the once hot-shooting Wildcats finished the half 2-for-11 from deep after their 5-for-5 start. The Blue Devils ramped up their defensive intensity and rode this momentum into the locker room for a 46-37 halftime lead. However, they could not keep it in the final 20 minutes of play.
Duke will next face off against Wofford Saturday at noon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.