Kennard better late for Devils
NEW YORK — Luke Kennard had an ugly first half, and Duke leaned on freshmen Jayson Tatum and Frank Jackson to build a double-digit lead against Clemson.
Then the Tigers rallied, and Kennard put down the uprising.
Kennard made two clutch jumpers in the final 2:04 and Duke beat Clemson 79-72 Wednesday to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament quarterfinals at Barclays Center. The 14th-ranked, fifth-seeded Blue Devils (24-8) face eighth-ranked, fourth-seeded Louisville today.
Kennard, the ACC’s leading scorer, went 1-for-9 from the field in the first half and 8-for-11 in the second to finish with 20 points.
“I think that’s a heck of a performance … You’re a special player when you’re able to do that,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Tatum and Jackson each scored 20 and picked up the slack while Kennard was cold.
Jaron Blossomgame led 12th-seeded Clemson (17-15) with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Duke built a 13-point lead midway through the second half but could not put away Clemson. Marcquise Reed converted a three-point play with 2:51 left to cut Duke’s lead to 69-68.
Kennard answered with a jumper to push the lead back to three. He dropped in a fallaway from the baseline with 1:14 left to up the lead to 75-70.
“The biggest thing I can take away from this is how much confidence my coaches, my teammates, they have in me,” Kennard said. “They continue to tell me to be aggressive.”
› Miami 62, Syracuse 57: Kamari Murphy had 16 points and 10 rebounds in his return home to Brooklyn to help the ninth-seeded Hurricanes (2110) advance to the quarterfinals, where they’ll face sixth-ranked, top-seeded North Carolina.
It’s a victory that seemingly solidified their spot in the NCAA tournament, but the Orange took an untimely loss that could leave them sweating out Selection Sunday.
No. 8 seed Syracuse (18-14) fell to 0-3 in the league tournament since joining the ACC and 2-11 this season away from home, a mark that might not go over very well with the committee that sets the 68-team NCAA field.
Andrew White III had 22 points to lead Syracuse.
› Virginia Tech 99, Wake Forest 90: Zach LeDay came off the bench to contribute game highs of 31 points and 15 rebounds as one of five Hokies who scored in double figures.
Seth Allen (18), Justin Bibbs (15), Ty Outlaw (14) and Ahmed Hill (12) were the others who led seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (22-9) into a quarterfinal with second-seeded Florida State.
Bryant Crawford scored 21 points to lead 10th-seeded Wake Forest (19-13), which led 44-37 at halftime. John Collins added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Konstantinos Mitoglou had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Demon Deacons, who had won four straight.