The second-ranked Duke Blue Devils were out-played for a majority of the night by the 16th-ranked Louisville Cardinals, but all that mattered was the final nine minutes to the Blue Devils. Duke rallied from 23 points down in the second half to stun the Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center, 71-69, on Tuesday night. Cam Reddish tied things with a three-pointer at 1:28 to go in regulation, while adding the official go-ahead free throw with 14 seconds to ply in the second half. The Blue Devils began the second half shooting just 2-for-17 from the floor, but they quickly turned that around to go 9-for-13 in the final 9:54. During that final stretch, Reddish had two big three-pointers to inch his team closer. Zion Williamson went 8-for-9 at the free throw line during the run as well, and finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Christen Cunningham missed a jumper as time expired, missing on a chance to tie the game in the final seconds for Louisville. The Blue Devils got the rebound to run out the rest of the time for their 22nd win of the season, and handing the Cardinals their eighth defeat. Duke remains in first place in the ACC with a 10-1 record, a game ahead of both the North Carolina Tar Heels and Virginia Cavaliers, who did battle on Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Reddish finished with 22 points on the night, 16 of which came in the second half, while RJ Barrett added 13 in the Blue Devils' eighth straight win. The victory comes despite the road team shooting a season-low 37 percent from the floor, with a majority of those struggles coming from the first half. Jordan Nwora scored 23 points to lead the Cardinals, who dropped their second straight game.
The Blue Devils will come off of this comeback victory to return home and play host to the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday night. The Cardinals will hope to bounce back on their home floor against the Clemson Tigers earlier that same day.
Christen Cunningham missed a jumper as time expired, missing on a chance to tie the game in the final seconds for Louisville. The Blue Devils got the rebound to run out the rest of the time for their 22nd win of the season, and handing the Cardinals their eighth defeat. Duke remains in first place in the ACC with a 10-1 record, a game ahead of both the North Carolina Tar Heels and Virginia Cavaliers, who did battle on Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Reddish finished with 22 points on the night, 16 of which came in the second half, while RJ Barrett added 13 in the Blue Devils' eighth straight win. The victory comes despite the road team shooting a season-low 37 percent from the floor, with a majority of those struggles coming from the first half. Jordan Nwora scored 23 points to lead the Cardinals, who dropped their second straight game.
The Blue Devils will come off of this comeback victory to return home and play host to the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday night. The Cardinals will hope to bounce back on their home floor against the Clemson Tigers earlier that same day.
