Duke knocks off Louisville 74-65
Duke outscores Louisville 14-5 in the final 7:16 to win 74-65 on the road.
Duke ended Saturday’s game the way it began — with precision on offense and a swarming defense. The result was a Blue Devils 74-65 win over Louisville on the road.
The victory did not come as easily as it appeared it might in the early stages, though.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but saw the wheels begin to fall off as the Cardinals slowly chipped away at the lead, eventually closing to within five points, 40-35, at the end of the first half.
Had it not been for an AJ Griffin near-halfcourt shot at the buzzer in the first half, Duke’s lead would have just been two points going into the break. The 3-point shot, however, did nothing to curb the Cardinals’ spirit.
Louisville’s momentum carried over to the start of the second half when the home team quickly tied the score up at 45 just two and a half minutes in.
The source of Duke’s temporary unraveling can be traced back to Mark Williams’ second foul in the first half, which came with 7:31 to go, and his third in which he was whistled for just 12 seconds into the second half.
Prior to his second foul, Williams was a catalyst for Duke on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he was a force, scoring eight points, while pulling down two rebounds off Duke missed shots. Defensively, he had not recorded a block, or a rebound, but his mere presence was altering what Louisville could do around the basket.
By the time he was substituted out, Williams had played just under nine minutes and had posted eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with the two boards.
Though Mike Krzyzewski opted to leave Williams in the game after he picked up his third foul, he pulled him out with 16:49 to go in the game.
Krzyzewski did not bring his 7-footer back in the game until the 10:25 mark, and luckily for the Blue Devils they managed to hold serve while he was out and actually stretch the lead from two points to four.
It took Duke’s big man just 21 seconds to make his impact felt again after corralling Griffin’s missed shot and sticking it back for two quick points.
Louisville did respond, however, and ultimately tied the game up at 60 fewer than two minutes in to Williams’ return. The Cardinals tried to attack Williams with the hope of him picking up his fourth foul, but the sophomore responded in a big way.
And along the way, Williams brought an aggression and assertiveness to the floor that Duke had been lacking with him on the bench. That attitude rubbed off on his teammates rather quickly.
The game, which had been extremely physical from early on, saw talk between the teams slowly escalate, ultimately finishing in several near-incidents. Referee Jeff Anderson huddled the teams together, letting each player know with no uncertain terms that it had to stop.
It ceased for the most part, but after Louisville’s Sydney Curry took exception to Theo John and Wendell Moore Jr. wrestling for the basketball, the chippy tone of the game returned in the snap of a finger.
Both teams were chirping to be sure, but this instance — though it was nothing that got out of control — seemingly woke the Blue Devils up.
It promptly resulted in Williams blocking Curry’s dunk attempt with 6:58 to go. Louisville corralled the ball, but failed to score. The Blue Devils rebounded the second miss and pushed the ball up the floor, ending with Moore getting a layup attempt that Curry stymied with a foul.
That only intensified the tension. Moore made both free throws, pushing Duke ahead 62-60 with 6:42 left in the game
Then for the second straight Louisville possession, Curry attacked the basket with a rim-rocking dunk in mind. This time Paolo Banchero was having none of it, blocking his second dunk attempt. Duke promptly pushed the floor with Griffin burying his fourth 3-point shot of the game to push his team up by five.
Duke’s defense stepped up again for the third consecutive Louisville possession, as Williams registered his second and final block on a Mason Faulkner 3-point attempt. Williams rebounded the ball and Duke was back in charge with 5:21 remaining. Jeremy Roach missed a layup, but Banchero, who had 10 of his 15 rebounds in the second half, pulled down the offensive board and kept the possession alive.
After he missed a shot attempt, Williams cleaned the glass for one of his nine second half rebounds (11 for the game) and subsequently fed Griffin, who drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Duke put together a 12-0 run after the Cardinals tied the game, eventually outscoring Louisville 14-5 in the final 7:16.
Louisville never really threatened to change the tone during that stretch.
Williams ended the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in just 23 minutes. Duke outscored Louisville by 13 with the sophomore on the floor.
While his play and the mentality he brought to the floor was a game changer for the Blue Devils, Griffin’s play was critical for the victory, as the freshman led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-5 from long range. He also contributed four rebounds and two steals.
His shots came in critical moments for Duke as well.
Roach was again a major factor for Duke, as he handed out five assists compared to just one turnover. He scored nine points on just 3-of-9 shooting, but he hit several big shots to prevent the Blue Devils from falling apart while the Cardinals made their push.
Banchero’s presence was felt most on the backboards. Six of his 15 rebounds came on the offensive glass. He finished with 11 points and three assists as well.
Moore did not shoot the ball well, but managed to score 10 points, while handing out five assists and grabbing four rebounds. He also had two of Duke’s five steals.
John also gave Duke a lift off the bench with Williams in foul trouble, scoring six points and grabbing five rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
In the larger picture, Duke rode its size by outscoring Louisville in the paint, 42-26 and winning the battle on the boards, 47-34. Twenty of those rebounds were on the offensive end of the court and resulted in 22 second chance points. Louisville finished with just five second chance points.