Kon Knueppel paired 18 points with five assists, helping guide the visiting No. 5 Duke Blue Devils to an 82-56 rout of Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play Saturday in Atlanta.
Khaman Maluach added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Cooper Flagg — on his 18th birthday — scored 13 points for Duke (10-2, 2-0 ACC), which won its sixth straight game. Tyrese Proctor had 10 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 56.4 percent from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers.
Baye Ndongo led Georgia Tech (5-7, 0-2) with 14 points, followed by Duncan Powell’s 13. The Yellow Jackets shot 36.2 percent from the field and 35.3 percent on 3-pointers. They have dropped four of five games.
After Lance Terry’s triple trimmed Georgia Tech’s deficit to 43-39 on the Yellow Jackets’ first possession of the second half, Proctor’s 3-pointer began a 14-0 Blue Devils run. The spurt was stamped with dunks by Maluach and Flagg to push Duke’s lead to 57-39 with 13:58 left.
Javian McCollum’s 3-pointer cut Duke’s lead to 16 at the 12:41 mark before Knueppel, Caleb Foster and Mason Gillis’ baskets pushed Duke’s advantage to 66-44.
Isaiah Evans scored the final five points of the game, including a 3-pointer to put a stamp on Duke’s 26-point win.
After Naithan George’s layup gave the Yellow Jackets a 4-1 lead, Flagg’s dunk capped an 11-2 Duke run at the 14:11 mark.
Following Powell’s 3-pointer which cut the Yellow Jackets’ deficit to 17-11, Maliq Brown’s layup was followed by triples from Evans and Sion James, pushing Duke’s advantage to 25-11 with 11:12 remaining in the opening half.
After Flagg’s 3-pointer pushed Duke’s lead to 37-22, Georgia Tech answered with a 12-2 run, stamped with Ndongo’s five straight points. Flagg and Terry traded baskets to end the first half, as Duke led 41-36 entering halftime.
Flagg and Knueppel each led the Blue Devils with nine first-half points, while Ndongo’s 12 paced Georgia Tech.
–Field Level Media
