Johnson, No. 4 UA take down No. 6 Duke

NEW YORK — It wasn’t a marquee matchup of freshmen, although both of the young stars showed how bright their futures can be.

Instead, No. 4 Arizona’s 72-66 victory over No. 6 Duke on Friday night in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off was a chance for two junior guards to take the spotlight.

Nick Johnson scored all but two of his 15 points in the second half and T.J. McConnell had 10 points and eight assists to lead the Wildcats to the win that showed just how versatile a team they are.

“We’re an all-around team. Really you could see it in the box score. It was pretty even all the way around,” Johnson, the tournament’s MVP, said, referring to the five starters scoring in double figures. “We’re a good team and we can play with anybody.”

The game was expected to be a matchup of two of the best freshmen in the country and, although Aaron Gordon of Arizona and Jabari Parker of Duke didn’t spend a lot of time covering each other or supplying highlight clips, they were both key factors in the outcome.

Gordon, the quiet forward, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and came up big late with a dunk on an alley-oop pass and then fed fellow freshman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk less than a minute later to give the Wildcats (7-0) a 61-51 lead with 3:59 to play.

“He stayed patient, which is one