What the Devils?
Duke rallies from 23 down to oust upset-minded L'ville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Looking tired and beaten while trailing Louisville by 23 points, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told his players they would win the game.
Whether he believed it or not didn’t matter. The Blue Devils bought in and found their energy in the final 10 minutes to mount one of their biggest comebacks ever.
Cam Reddish made a tying 3-pointer with 1:28 left and the go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds remaining, helping the No. 2 Blue Devils overcome a second-half deficit to beat the No. 16 Cardinals 71-69 on Tuesday night.
“I think our mentality changed,” Reddish said. “We didn’t want to go home with a loss. We had to fight for Duke, just give it our all for the name on our chest.”
After making 2 of 17 shots to open the second half, Duke (22-2, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Con- ference) got hot to make 9 of 13 and shut down the Cardinals over the final 9:54. Zion Williamson (27 points, 12 rebounds) ignored foul trouble and instead drew whistles in his favor, making 8 of 9 from the line before Reddish added a couple of 3s in between free throws — the last two of which followed an official review of a play under Duke’s basket.
Christen Cunningham tried to tie it for Louisville (17-8, 8-4), but his jumper in the lane bounced off the rim and into Williamson’s hands as the final seconds ticked off. The Blue Devils celebrated loudly as they left the court after completing the secondbiggest second-half comeback in program history.
“It just took us playing hard,” Williamson told ESPN after the game. “They were playing harder than us. Louisville’s a very great team, but we just had to play harder than them.”
Not even Coach K could grasp that rally.
“I did think we could play better,” he said. “I was positive, but I don’t know, belief. ... At that point, I may have been telling them a lie.”