No. 1 Kansas fends off No. 11 Duke in Dramatic Blue-Blood Thriller

LAS VEGAS — The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks survived a nail-biting finish to secure a 75-72 victory over No. 11 Duke Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The game featured everything from an early Jayhawks surge to a controversial ejection and a frantic final sequence.

Kansas started strong and raced out to a 16-3 lead in the opening minutes. However, the Blue Devils fought back in the contest and tightened the deficit to 41-39 at the break. Duke’s resilience set the stage for a back-and-forth second-half battle.

Drama struck at the 10:00 mark when Kansas center Hunter Dickinson was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul after a physical altercation with Duke forward Maliq Brown. Dickinson appeared to kick Brown as the two battled for a rebound, a move officials deemed intentional.

His absence forced Kansas to rely heavily on its backcourt and depth for the rest of the game.

With under 10 seconds left, Duke’s Kon Knueppel drove into the lane with his team trailing 73-72, but missed a contested layup. Kansas guard Rylan Griffen secured the rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws to extend the lead to three.

After a timeout, Duke advanced the ball to half court and got one last chance. Knueppel’s desperation three-pointer to tie the game as time expired.

Dajuan Harris Jr. led Kansas with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while Zeke Mayo added 12.

“Well, we played hard and Flory (Bidunga) was great when he came late,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Our guards made plays all night. (…) We are a work in progress though – we have a ways to go.”

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