Duke vs Kansas: Highlights, score and recap

Frank Mason III had the onions to make the Duke Blue Devils cry as the Kansas Jayhawks knocked off No. 1 at Madison Square Garden.

The Duke Blue Devils entered their showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night having mowed down two cupcakes. This was despite not having Harry Giles or Jayson Tatum on the floor for either game. However, you had to wonder if that would become more of an issue against the No. 7-ranked Jayhawks in the Champions Classic.

In the first half, that certainly wasn’t the case. Duke jumped out to a nine-point lead at one point, thanks largely to efficient outside shooting from Matt Jones and the overall play of sophomore Luke Kennard. Moreover, Kansas saw the bulk of their roster, including star Frank Mason III, get into foul trouble. That led to the Blue Devils ultimately taking a 34-29 lead into halftime.

Out of the locker room for the second 20 minutes, though, Kansas came out firing. Defensively, they amped up the pressure to force tough shots and to keep Grayson Allen pressing. The star junior for Duke was ice cold for most of the night and the Jayhawks exploited that. What’s more, Mason and freshman Josh Jackson started getting into rhythm in a big way. Jackson lived up to his recruiting profile in this one, redeeming himself from a poor opening showing in the loss to Indiana.

Kansas turned the tides to get out to a big lead. As Mike Krzyzewski teams often do, though, the Blue Devils wouldn’t quit. Allen started finally making shots and forcing bad decisions from the Jayhawks down the stretch. Seemingly in the blink of an eye in the final two minutes, Duke cut the lead to three, setting the stage for freshman Frank Jackson to tie it up with a three from the left wing with just over 10 seconds left on the clock.

However, that was more than enough time for Kansas. Bill Self called a timeout and got the ball in the hands of Mason, who was rolling by this point. The start point guard attacked at the top of the key off of the dribble, stepping back at the left elbow. He got enough separation from the move to get a clean jumper off on-balance. Onions. Buckets.

Duke threw up a last-second heave, but it was all for naught. No. 1 fell to the Jayhawks in a thriller in MSG. Even still, the Blue Devils have to feel good that they played a team as good as Kansas down to the wire with one star struggling and their two best freshmen in suits.

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Three Stars

Frank Mason III, Kansas – After scoring 30 points in the opener, it looked like Mason was in for a regression on Tuesday night. He got in foul trouble and struggled quite a bit in the first half. However, he responded to help close out Duke down the stretch. Mason finished with 21 points (17 in the second half), three assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Oh yeah, he also hit the game-winning jumper with one second left on the clock.

Luke Kennard, Duke – In the midst of Allen’s struggles for the Blue Devils, Kennard did everything in his power to carry this team. The sophomore finished with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, and one block on 7-10 shooting from the field and 2-4 from deep.

Josh Jackson, Kansas – The Jayhawks’ star freshman was absolute money at the start of the second half. Not only did he contribute big-time on defense, but he found his rhythm on offense. Before fouling out early on, Jackson put up 15 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal on 7-9 shooting from the field.

Highlights

Next Game

Duke will play again on Saturday as they compete at another neutral-site game in Connecticut against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Meanwhile, Kansas will be back at home on Friday to face Siena.