COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Freshman Brandon Ingram scores 18 points and grabs 10 rebounds in the victory.
Duke defeats No. 13 Louisville 72-65 on Monday night behind 18 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Brandon Ingram.
DURHAM, N.C. — All those losses last month might have taught Duke something important: How to win.
The Blue Devils beat No. 13 Louisville 72-65 on Monday night behind 18 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Brandon Ingram.
Grayson Allen scored 19 points and Luke Kennard had 11 for the Blue Devils (18-6, 7-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who let a 15-point lead slip away in the second half before hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the final 3:14 and beating a ranked opponent for the first time this season.
“A couple of weeks ago, there is no way,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I think we lose that game by 15 points because we wouldn’t be able to get there.”
After losing four of five in January, Duke has won three straight.
“I just felt like we were tough. Guys wanted the ball. We made winning plays, and we went to the free throw line and we made free throws,” guard Matt Jones said. “Those are signs of toughness . ... We knew that we’d been in this position before and we were kind of just drawing off experience.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 17 points and Quentin Snider, who fouled out with 2:01 left, added 12 for the Cardinals (19-5, 8-3), who shot 56 percent in the second half and erased a 15-point deficit but missed a chance to take sole possession of first place in the league.
The key stretch came when Louisville had the ball down 66-62 with about 2½ minutes left. Ray Spalding left a layup short off the iron, Duke’s Marshall Plumlee grabbed the rebound and it was at least a two-possession game the rest of the way.
Ingram and Jones both made two free throws on the next two possessions before freshman Derryck Thornton hit a jumper in the lane with the shot clock winding down to make it 70-62 with 33 seconds left.
Trey Lewis swished a 3-pointer with 24.5 seconds left to pull the Cardinals within five and Thornton missed two free throws with 22.5 seconds left, but Damion Lee missed a 3-pointer with about 10 seconds to play and Kennard iced it with two more free throws with 6.4 seconds left.