Texas makes a run at No. 1 Duke only to fall in overtime.
Freshman scores 34 to lift Blue Devils to comeback victory in PK80 tourney
PORTLAND, Ore. — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski calls Marvin Bagley III “a treasure.”
The freshman big man had a career-high 34 points and added 15 rebounds, and No. 1 Duke rallied to defeat Texas 85-78 in overtime Friday in the semifinals of the PK80 Invitational.
“I believe ultimately in this kid,” Krzyzewski said. “I knew he was going to be good, but coaching him every day, he’s a treasure, really. Because he wants to be really good. All of his teammates love him because he’s as hard of a worker as we have.”
Dylan Osetkowski had 19 points and seven rebounds for Texas (4-1), which fell short of its first victory over a top-ranked team.
Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points for the Blue Devils (7-0), who trailed by 16 points in the second half and were forced to play five freshmen once senior Grayson Allen fouled out.
Duke advanced to play the winner of Friday night’s late game between No. 7 Florida and No. 17 Gonzaga for the title Sunday.
Mohamad Bamba, the Longhorns’ 6-11 freshman with a 7-9 wingspan, finished with nine points and 10 rebounds but fouled out with 32.8 seconds left in regulation. Bamba had two blocks.
“We showed how good we can be, but obviously there’s a lot of things we have to grow on and get better from,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “And we have to understand the game is 40 minutes long, or in this case, 45 minutes long.”
Bagley had consecutive dunks to give the fivetime NCAA champion Blue Devils a 78-73 lead in overtime. Andrew Jones’ layup pulled Texas within 78-77 with 1:20 left. Wendell Carter’s putback dunk pushed Duke’s lead to 8278, and Trent’s free throws with 11 seconds left sealed the win.
“The game kind of slowed down, and my teammates found me in the right spots,” said Bagley, who had 21 points in the second half and overtime. “Coaches, they called plays for me, and they believed in me to keep attacking and going to the rim, just trying to create something.
Bagley tied the Blue Devils’ freshman scoring record set by J.J. Reddick on Jan. 15, 2003, against Virginia.
It was the fifth meeting between the teams, and Duke has won all of them.
Texas had faced a No. 1-ranked opponent nine previous times, with a 0-9 record. The most recent meeting was Feb. 29, 2016, when the Longhorns lost 86-56 to No. 1 Kansas.