Carlik Jones makes plays late as Louisville hands Duke its third straight loss
Matthew Hurt scored as many points but Carlik Jones made the plays down the stretch to help Louisville beat Duke on Saturday.
Jones scored 24 points, including the Cardinals’ final nine points over the last two minutes, as Louisville edged the Blue Devils 70-65 in ACC basketball at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
“We lost to a good team,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team suffered its third consecutive loss, “and a kid in Jones who can really control the game, especially at the end of a game. Just a tough loss for us.”
Hurt, a sophomore forward, scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Duke (5-5, 3-3 ACC) before fouling out with 1:50 to play. Jones took over from there as Louisville halted its two-game losing streak.
After freshman guard DJ Steward put Duke in front 62-61 by making two free throws with 2:07 to play, Hurt fouled a driving Jones in the lane 17 seconds later. Jones’ two free throws put Louisville ahead 63-62.
Freshman forward Jalen Johnson’s basket in the lane with 1:30 to play gave Duke its final lead at 65-64. But Jones drove past Johnson to score with 1:18 to play and the Cardinals never trailed again.
Johnson turned the ball over when he was called for an offensive foul before Jones missed a jumper for Louisville.
Junior forward Joey Baker had a chance to put Duke ahead but his 3-pointer missed. Jones was fouled and hit two free throws with 25 seconds left giving the Cardinals a 68-65 lead.
“I feel so bad for Joey,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s worked so hard. You are down by one and he’s got the shot that he’s dreamed of and worked hard for and the thing is in and out. I feel bad for him. The basketball gods if they are good to him then we would have benefitted.”
Duke had two chances to tie, but sophomore forward Wendell Moore’s 3-pointer missed with 19 seconds left and Steward missed another with 11 seconds left.
“We missed two wide-open shots, good shots to tie the game,” Krzyzewski said.
Jones hit two free throws to close out the scoring for Louisville (10-3, 5-2 ACC).
Steward scored 13 points for Duke.
For Louisville, Jae’Lyn Withers scored 13 points, while David Johnson scored 12 and Dre Davis 11.
Here are the earlier updates:
Louisville up 1 in back and forth game
In a game that’s seen 12 lead changes and three ties, Louisville leads Duke 55-54 with 7:06 to play.
Matthew Hurt leads Duke with 20 points but picked up his fourth foul. He’s the only Blue Devil who has scored in double figures. Duke made 9 of its first 17 shots of the second half and is at 48.9% overall.
Carlik Jones leads Louisville with 13 points while David Johnson has 12 and Dre Davis 11 points. The Cardinals
Cardinals take halftime lead
A late surge allowed Louisville to take 36-33 halftime lead over Duke.
The Blue Devils saw a three-point lead erased by a 7-0 Louisville run that included baskets by Samuell Williamson and Dre Davis followed by a David Johnson 3-pointer that put the Cardinals up 34-30. Matthew Hurt’s 3-pointer halted the Louisville run before Williamson’s rebound basket established Louisville’s three-point halftime lead.
Hurt scored 15 first-half points for Duke. Jalen Johnson has seven points but his five turnovers slowed the Blue Devils offensively. Duke turned the ball over eight times in the first half while shooting 46.4% (13 of 28).
Louisville hit 5 of 13 3-pointers while shooting 48.1% overall (13 of 27). Davis led the Cardinals in scoring with 10 points while Johnson scored nine.
Duke leads in back-and-forth game
In a game with seven lead changes in the first 16 minutes, Duke took a 30-27 lead over Louisville with 3:39 to play.
The Cardinals led by four points at 26-22 on a David Johnson 3-pointer with 6:03 to play. But Duke scored eight of the game’s next nine points. Matthew Hurt’s baseline jumper put Duke in front and Jordan Goldwire’s steal and layup give Duke a thee-point lead.
Hurt has 12 points to lead Duke.
Jalen Johnson back in Duke’s starting lineup
Coming off a stellar performance as a reserve at Pittsburgh last Tuesday night, Duke freshman forward Jalen Johnson is in the Blue Devils starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 8 for today’s game at Louisville.
The 6-9 Johnson, previously sidelined with a foot injury, scored 24 points with 15 rebounds and seven assists when Duke lost 79-73 at Pitt. Against the Cardinals today, Johnson is joined in the starting lineup by sophomores Matthew Hurt and Wendell Moore along with freshmen guards Jeremy Roach.
It’s the second game this season Duke has used this starting lineup. The other time was Dec. 1 when Michigan State beat the Blue Devils 75-69 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But this group was on the floor the majority of the time in the second half at Pittsburgh when Duke, which trailed 55-40 just after halftime, fought back to within a basket three times before losing.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 3:46 PM.