Luke Kennard hit a big game-winner for the Duke Blue Devils to beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday.
With another loss staring his team in the face, Duke’s Luke Kennard nailed a game-winning 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds second remaining to give the Blue Devils an 83-82 win over Wake Forest on Saturday.
Luke Kennard for the lead! pic.twitter.com/qw6nhFRuDf
— Chris Stone (@cstonehoops) January 28, 2017
The 3-pointer capped a 34-point outing for Kennard, who scored 30 of his points in the second half to power the Blue Devils to their 16th win of the season. The sophomore finished 11-for-14 from the floor and added four assists and four rebounds.
Amidst a plethora of talent, Duke has consistently struggled to find the right roles for its best players this season. Between Kennard, Grayson Allen, Jayson Tatum and even Frank Jackson, the Blue Devils have a number of score-first guards who look to shoot before they pass.
Kennard, though, has proven himself the team’s best player because of his ability to score both on the ball and away from it and to operate within the flow of the offense.
Nothing perhaps emphasizes that point more than the game’s closing minutes. Tatum fouled out with 6:58 remaining. The Blue Devils subsequently closed out Wake Forest on a 20-10 run as the ball seemed to move more freely. During that stretch, Kennard scored 11 points, including nine from 3-point range.
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Duke is no longer the national title favorite, but there is plenty of time until March for it to find the appropriate roles for everyone on the roster. That starts with putting the ball in Kennard’s hands as much as possible. His 34 points capped by game-winning 3-pointer is proof of that.