No. 1 Kansas hosts the no. 11 Duke 75-72 after Dickinson was ejected in the Vegas Showdown

LAS VEGAS — Dajuan Harris scored 14 points and top-ranked Kansas held off the expulsion of star center Hunter Dickinson to beat no. 11 Duke 75-72 in the Vegas Showdown Tuesday night.

Dickinson, who entered the game averaging 17.8 points and 10.4 rebounds, picked up a stinking 2 foul and was ejected for kicking the Blue Devils’ Maliq Brown in the head midway through the second half.

Highly touted Duke freshman Cooper Flagg took advantage of Dickinson’s absence, and the Blue Devils kept it close all the way to the buzzer.

Zeke Mayo added 12 points for Kansas (6-0), and Dickinson and AJ Storr each scored 11.

Tyrese Proctor led Duke (4-2) with 15 points, Flagg scored 13, Kon Knueppel had 11 and Sion James finished with 10.

Mayo put Kansas ahead for good when he made a jumper with 1:57 left for a 73-71 lead. Flagg hit a free throw for Duke and Rylan Griffen answered with two foul shots with 2 seconds left.

Kansas has won four of the last five meetings with the Blue Devils and six of eight. Nine of the last 10 meetings have been decided by single digits.

Takeaways

Kansas: Overcoming the loss of Dickinson could serve the Jayhawks well later in the season.

Duke: Flagg had six points when Dickinson went out, but in four trips to the court he had two dunks, a layup and a free throw.

Key moment

Knueppel had a 3-point try rim out at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

Key state

Duke shot 50% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range. Kansas shot 49.1% overall and 47.1% from 3.

Next

Kansas hosts Furman on Saturday. Duke is at home against Seattle on Friday.