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  • Duke Rallies Against Georgia Tech To Win, 78-70, And Move On In The ACC Championship

Duke Rallies Against Georgia Tech To Win, 78-70, And Move On In The ACC Championship

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Basketball

The Duke men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit and defeated Georgia Tech, 78-70, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday, March 13. The Blue Devils (29-3) received a career-high 28 points from Kon Knueppel and scored 52 points in the second half to defeat the Yellow Jackets (17-16).

Knueppel also matched a career high with eight assists, a game high, and secured five boards. Khaman Maluach led all players on the glass, with nine caroms, and also blocked a career-high four shots, the most by any player in the contest.

Maluach also reached double-figures, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 (.75) shooting from the field and Isaiah Evans was Duke's third double-digit scorer, finishing with 14 points, fueled by a 4-of-8 (.500) performance from beyond the arc. Three different Blue Devils swiped two steals, with Knueppel joined by Cooper Flagg and Mason Gillis in the category.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Georgia Tech opened with a layup on its first possession of the game, followed by back-to-back layups from Kon Knueppel. The Yellow Jackets took an early lead, 9-6, into the first media break of the game.
  • The Yellow Jackets took an eight-point lead, 16-8, following their third three-pointer of the game. The burst reached as large as nine unanswered points, with Georgia Tech growing its lead to 11, 19-8, before Sion James snapped the scoring run with a fast-break layup.
  • Georgia Tech held Duke to a 2-of-12 stretch from the field and expanded its lead, 26-12, at the final media timeout of the first half. A thunderous block by Cooper Flagg  led to a fast-break three-pointer by Isaiah Evans and forced a Georgia Tech timeout with 3:13 on the clock.
  • Duke made three of its final four shots of the first half and trailed by five, 31-26, at halftime. A three-pointer by Knueppel to start the second half gave the freshman nine points and drew Duke within two, 31-29. Two free throws by Khaman Maluach knotted the score at 31 and James drilled a three-pointer to put Duke in front, 34-31, three minutes into the second half.
  • A dunk by Tyrese Proctor pushed Duke's lead to seven, 38-31, with 15:33 remaining. Three-pointers, from Evans and Knueppel, gave Duke its largest lead of the game so far, 48-40, and forced a Yellow Jackets timeout with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
  • An alley-oop slam from Maluach, set up by Knueppel was followed up with a fast-break three-pointer from Evans, giving Duke its first double-digit lead, 54-43. Another Maluach dunk pushed the freshman to 12 points on the game and kept Duke in front, 65-55, at the last media timeout of the contest.
  • Knueppel scored 11 of Duke's final 13 points, while assisting on the lone basket that he didn't score, to help Duke ice away the 78-70 victory.

UP NEXT
Top-seeded Duke returns to the court on Friday, March 14, in the ACC Tournament semifinal. The Blue Devils (29-3) will face either Wake Forest (21-10) or North Carolina (21-12), with tip off scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.