Lucas Peltier/AP

Kansas forward KJ Adams (24) shoots the ball against Duke guard/forward Cooper Flagg (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas – Kansas played its best basketball at the start of each half on Tuesday night against Duke, only to let lead after lead – as many as 13 points early and eight points in the second half – slip away.

Still, the 11th-ranked Jayhawks held on against the 11th-ranked Blue Devils, and after star center Hunter Dickinson left in the second half, his backup Flory Bidunga made a game-winning fight to force a turnover from Kon Knueppel in the final minute . Rylan Griffen hit two free throws, Knueppel’s last attempt failed and KU secured a narrow 75-72 win at T-Mobile Arena.

Dajuan Harris Jr. led four double-digit scorers for KU with 14 points and nine assists, while Zeke Mayo scored a hard-fought 12 and AJ Storr scored 11 points in his first starting game for the Jayhawks. Dickinson had 11 points before being sent off for a flagrant foul.

Tyrese Proctor fired all seven of his shots from distance and made five of them, becoming the game’s leading scorer. Freshman phenom Cooper Flagg struggled to get involved in the first half, largely due to KJ Adams’ defense, but finished with 13.

Early in the game, KU jumped out to a 10-3 lead, helped by 3-pointers from Mayo and Dickinson, both of whom tried to excite the pro-KU portion of the neutral crowd, and two turnovers from Cooper Flagg. The Jayhawks extended their early lead with a contested jump shot from Storr that turned into a three-point play.

The Blue Devils got back to single digits with Flagg’s first points of the night, a pull-up jumper at 14 minutes, but Harris responded with an and-1 on a floater in the lane.

Duke had plenty of time to find its rhythm as the Jayhawks were out of control for four minutes until Flory Bidunga completed an alley-oop from Harris to make it 25-16 and then Storr hit a 3-pointer from midfield in the middle of the period -out.

KU regained some of its offensive momentum, but also committed a number of fouls that put the Blue Devils in the bonus and allowed them to keep up at the free throw line. Proctor made his second three-pointer of the game just under five minutes before halftime, and Maliq Brown made his first three-pointer of the season as part of a 12-0 Duke run that tied the game at 32. Harris brought the run to a merciful end by connecting himself from deep.

The Jayhawks found themselves in an advantageous 41-36 position with the ball and the shot clock, but Griffen took a transition 3 and missed badly before Proctor hit the buzzer at the other end, cutting KU’s lead to a two-point break.

Kon Knueppel gave Duke its first lead since 3-2 with a close-range fadeaway early in the second half, but Storr immediately canceled it out with a corner 3 and Adams scored twice as part of a 9-0 run.

The Blue Devils got going from distance and Flagg made his second field goal of the night with a three-pointer, but then Adams blocked it inside to give KU the decisive momentum and reach a media timeout, 54-48.

Once again, the strong start at the start of the half gave way to a sluggish middle, and with 10:26 left, Dickinson was called for a flagrant 2-foul when he was fouled on an offensive rebound, fell to the floor over Brown and… Then it seemed he extended his leg and hit Brown in the head while both were on the ground. Freshman Bidunga was forced into extended action when Dickinson was ejected.

Duke briefly tied the game at 59-61 while repeatedly fouled, then again at 65 before taking the lead on a dunk from Flagg with six minutes left, only for Griffen to hit an off-balance 3-pointer after a timeout . He then ended a lengthy and chaotic possession with a layup through contact for a more conventional three-point play.

Duke tied the game again, only for Mayo to make a free throw with two minutes left. With KU leading 73-72, Flagg turned the ball over, allowing the Jayhawks to run for a few minutes, but Mayo couldn’t muster another heroic shot and Duke had a few late chances.

The undefeated Jayhawks return to Lawrence to host Furman on Saturday at 5 p.m. in a game that is technically considered part of the Vegas Showdown.

Box score

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Quick summary: The Jayhawks hold on for dear life and emerge victorious over Duke 75-72

Written by Henry Greenstein

Henry is a sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com and serves as a KU beat writer while managing daily sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (BA, Linguistics) and Arizona State University (MA, Sports Journalism). Despite being from Los Angeles, he’s often been told that he doesn’t give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.

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