Louisville answers, tops third-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor
Louisville men’s basketball didn’t let a double-digit lead to Duke slip away again. The Cardinals defeated third-ranked Duke 79-73 at Cameron Indoor Stadium Jan. 18, Louisville’s first road win over a top-3 ranked team since 2010.
After giving up a 23-point advantage to Duke in a loss last season, Louisville didn’t suffer the same fate. The Cardinals led by 15 points in the first half before Duke came back to tie the game several times, but Louisville made enough plays in the final few minutes for its fourth straight win.
David Johnson scored a team-high 19 points while Dwayne Sutton had 13 points for Louisville.
Cassius Stanley scored 24 points while Matthew Hurt had 16 points for a Duke team that shot 37.1 percent from the field and finished with 16 turnovers.
Louisville looked as good as it has been this season on both ends of the floor to start the game. The Cardinals took their first lead on a transition dunk by Jordan Nwora on an assist from Lamarr Kimble.
When Chris Mack turned to his bench after the first media timeout, Louisville responded. David Johnson threw down a dunk following a deflection by Malik Williams.
The freshman scored again on a backdoor cut on a pass by Ryan McMahon. Johnson continued to make an impact, finding Dwayne Sutton for a transition dunk for a 15-6 lead with 13:18 left in the first half.
Louisville started 10 of 15 from the field with eight assists while Duke shot 30 percent from the field with seven turnovers as the visitors led 21-9.
The Cardinals’ reserves continued to impact the game early as Samuell Williamson won a loose ball near midcourt that he turned into a dunk to extend Louisville’s lead to 15 points.
Vernon Carey scored in the low post to cap a 9-0 run to cut Louisville’s lead to 28-23 with five minutes left in the first half. Johnson ended Duke’s run with a 3-pointer from the wing.
Johnson finished with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting along with four assists, finding Williams for a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to give Louisville a 42-32 advantage. The Cardinals shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first half while limiting Duke to 33.3 percent from the field.
Duke scored six straight points to begin the second half, trimming its deficit to four points. Louisville answered after a timeout by Chris Mack as Johnson found Enoch for a 3-pointer and Kimble scored in transition.
Louisville maintained its three-possession lead midway through the second half.
A Duke steal led to a dunk by Stanley with just under 11 minutes left to bring Duke within five points. Stanley had another transition dunk to cut Louisville’s lead to 58-55, forcing Mack to call a timeout with 9:12 left.
Matthew Hurt was fouled on a 3-point attempt, tying the game with 8:49 left by making all three free throws. Kimble answered on Louisville’s next possession, driving and scoring while being fouled.
Nwora returned Louisville’s lead to two possessions with a transition dunk.
Duke cut its deficit to one point following two consecutive poor possessions by Louisville offensively. Jordan Goldwire scored in transition with 3:25 left to trim Louisville’s lead to 71-70.
Sutton made a pair of free throws for a 73-70 advantage.
Jones missed a game-tying 3-pointer with just under a minute left and Nwora grabbed a defensive rebound.
Williams made two free throws with 16 seconds left to return Louisville’s lead to two possessions. The junior capped the game with a dunk with seven seconds left.
