Kansas Jayhawks win thriller over Duke Blue Devils 75-72 in Las Vegas

The Kansas Jayhawks picked up one of the signature wins of the early college basketball season Tuesday night, holding off the Duke Blue Devils 75-72 at the Terry’s Chocolate Vegas Invitational.

It was an impressive win regardless of context, coming over the 11th-ranked team in the country, but the Jayhawks were able to pull it off without arguably their best player down the stretch.

Senior center Hunter Dickinson was called for a flagrat-2 foul and was ejected with over 10 minutes to play after making contact on the ground with the head of Duke’s Maliq Brown with his foot. After the ensuing free throws, KU led by just one point, 57-56.

With freshman center Flory Bidunga in Dickinson’s place, Kansas was able to hang on down the stretch, improving to 6-0 in the process with now three wins over high-major programs.

Senior guard Dajuan Harris led the Jayhawks in scoring on Tuesday, going 6-of-10 from the floor for 14 points along with a game-high nine assists. Senior guard Zeke Mayo added 12 points in the win, while Dickinson and junior guard A.J. Storr tacked on 11 apiece.

Senior forward K.J. Adams had a huge game to help propel KU to the win, only scoring eight points but swiping three steals and blocking three shots. Bidunga scored six points in reserve action, also hauling in a game-high eight rebounds.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2024 and a preseason All-American, was held to just 13 points in the losing effort, and he also committed a costly turnover in the final minute of the game.

Kansas will return home to Allen Fieldhouse for the back half of the Vegas Invitational event on Saturday when it hosts the Furman Paladins. Furman followed KU’s win in Las Vegas by improving to 7-0 with a 61-56 victory over the Seattle Pilots.

Saturday’s game will tip off at 5:00 p.m. in Lawrence.

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