No. 1 Kansas refused to let Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg beat them Tuesday night, and the Jayhawks survived a tight game to beat the No. 11 Blue Devils, earning a 75-72 win at T-Mobile Arena.
In a back-and-forth game worthy of March, or perhaps early April, it was freshman Kon Knueppel, not the highly touted but well-covered Flagg, who turned the ball over in the lane with three seconds left and his team down a point.
Kansas’ Rylan Griffen stole the ball from Knueppel, drew a foul and hit two free throws to close out the Jayhawks’ win.
Flagg finished with 13 points for Duke (4-2), scoring 11 after halftime as he made 5 of 9 shots in the game. Knueppel scored 11 while hitting just 4 of 14 shots, and it was he who wound up driving in the lane with the game on the line, seeking in vain to score the go-ahead basket.
After Griffen’s free throws, Knueppel attempted a rushed 3-pointer at the buzzer which banked off the rim and out.
Kansas (6-0) played the final 10:26 without 7-2 center Hunter Dickinson after the preseason all-American received a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected after kicking Duke’s Maliq Brown in the face as they tumbled on the court. Dickinson scored 11 points.
Kansas took the lead for good on Zeke Mayo’s runner as the shot clock expired, giving the Jayhawks a 73-71 lead with 1:57 left. Flagg split two free throws with 1:38 left, leaving Kansas up 73-72.
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