The Blue Devils clawed back from a terrible start against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday, but a late turnover once again doomed Duke to a loss.
[autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] jumped in the air and saw nothing but Kansas defenders.
With 14 seconds left on the board in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, Duke sat within a point of the top-ranked team in the country. With one play between the Blue Devils and a monumental resume-booster, the offense fed one of its star freshmen the ball at the top of the key in hopes he could create a ninth assist.
[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the other Blue Devils couldn’t shake free, however, forcing Knueppel to drive toward the basket. He spun into the paint and rose up for a floater, but two Jayhawks defenders converged and forced him to toss a prayer toward teammates Khaman Maluach and Sion James instead.
The ball got lost in the crowd, letting the Jayhawks retake control and ice their 75-72 victory in Sin City.
The first four minutes went about as poorly as Duke basketball fans could have possibly imagined. Kansas made six of its first seven attempts from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers for a 16-3 lead before all the fans at T-Mobile Arena even found their seats.
The Jayhawks produced two more five-point runs in the first 13 minutes thanks to the efforts of veteran guard Dajuan Harris Jr. While star teammate Hunter Dickinson commands most of the national attention and accolades, the 6-foot-2 Missouri native scored or assisted on 10 of his team’s first 21 points en route to a 14-point, nine-assist performance.
With Duke facing down the barrel of a 28-16 deficit with seven minutes left in the opening half, the offense finally came alive. The Blue Devils struggled to create consistent separation against the Jayhawks in the half-court, but Kansas finally started to miss the mark on offense to give up some transition possessions. Duke took advantage of its athleticism in a 16-4 run to tie the game.
Kansas consistently double-teamed Flagg, who only took two shots from the floor before halftime, so veterans Tyrese Proctor and Maliq Brown led the way in the comeback effort.
Brown, usually a quiet scorer, buried his first 3-pointer of the year during the scoring streak as he added seven points in three minutes. The versatile Syracuse transfer tacked on three steals, a rebound, and an assist before the break, but his defensive impact surpassed the box score. He constantly swatted the ball away from Kansas, often letting the Jayhawks retain possession as the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds but disrupting the offensive rhythm nonetheless.
Tyrese Proctor, the only Blue Devil who spent each of the last two seasons in Durham with Jon Scheyer, changed the complexion of the game in the closing seconds of the period. With Kansas nursing a 41-36 lead with no shot clock, Jayhawks guard Rylan Griffin forced up an ill-advised 3-pointer to give Duke one last chance with the ball.
Proctor got the ball from freshman center Khaman Maluach and faked toward the basket to create some space before retreating well behind the arc. He let a 3-pointer fly, and it found its mark just as the backboard went red to cut within two points.
The third-year Duke guard put forth his best effort yet on a big stage. Proctor made five of his first six attempts from distance to end the game with a team-leading 15 points, picking up the extra volume from Flagg’s defensive attention.
With 10:26 left on the clock, one tangle spun the entire game on its head. Brown and Dickinson fell to the court after challenging each other for a rebound, and despite Brown undercutting the Jayhawks star for a foul, officials spent a long time reviewing the footage. As it turns out, Dickinson lowered his foot to kick Brown’s head into the court, and the review deemed his outburst worthy of an ejection with Kansas clinging to a 57-55 lead.
Flagg took advantage with a one-handed dunk over replacement big man Flory Bidunga, but the Jayhawks didn’t roll over despite Dickinson’s absence. The Blue Devils took a two-point lead with 5:53 on the clock, but Griffin scored six straight points for Kansas to retake a 71-67 advantage.
Another Flagg bucket pulled Duke back within one, but that fateful Knueppel turnover gave the Jayhawks an easy path to the final lead. He got a chance at redemption with the final play design, a deep 3-point look to force overtime, but his shot bounced off the glass and lipped out of the rim for an eighth straight miss from distance.
The Blue Devils, now 4-2 for the year, return to Cameron Indoor Stadium later this week for a Friday game against the Seattle Redhawks.
