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Curry carries No. 9 Duke by Kentucky. Seth Curry scored 23 points and No. 9 Duke
held off a furious comeback by No. 3 Kentucky, beating the
defending national champions 75-68 Tuesday night in the first matchup between the storied
programs since 2001.
Duke (2:0) appeared to be in control, even with Mason Plumlee on the bench in foul trouble.
The Blue Devils ripped off a 13:3 run, capped by Rasheed
Sulaimon's 3-pointer that made it 58:44 with 9 1/2
minutes remaining.
But Kentucky (1:1) wasn't done, rallying like the defending champ even though this is essentially
a whole new team in coach John Calipari's one-and-done
system. The Wildcats outscored Duke 17:6 over the next six minutes and actually had a chance
to tie it.
Julius Mays missed a 3-pointer with the Blue Devils clinging to a 64:61 lead.
Curry made sure youthful Kentucky didn't get any closer. He schooled freshman guard Archie
Goodwin on a drive, using a pump fake to get past
the Wildcat, and essentially clinched the win.
Alex Poythress led Kentucky with 20 points, while Nerlens Noel and Goodwin added 16 apiece.
All are freshmen, showing this team has plenty of
room to grow before tournament time.
After Duke let Kentucky back in the game by continuing to put up errant 3-pointers, Curry
finally changed things up. He pumped faked and took
off for the hoop, drawing a foul on Goodwin with just
over 2 minutes remaining. He knocked down both ends of the one-and-one, pushing Duke
to a 66:61 lead with 2:04 remaining.
Poythress gave the Wildcats a semblance of hope, putting back a missed shot, but Curry
blew by Goodwin for a layin that made it 68:63 with
1:13 left and essentially sealed it. Calipari called
a timeout and screamed at Goodwin as the freshman walked toward the bench.
In the final minute, Curry added two more free throws to finish off the Wildcats.
Plumlee fouled out near the end, but not before scoring 18 points in 29 minutes. Ryan Kelly
and Sulaimon had 10 points apiece. Both Curry
and Sulaimon hit three shots beyond the arc, as the Blue
Devils finished 8 of 18 from 3-point range.