AJ Griffin made two 3-point baskets during a 12-0 run after Louisville tied the game, helping No. 9 Duke pull out a 74-65 road victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Griffin finished with 22 points as the Blue Devils (17-3, 7-2 ACC) won their third game in a row. This was another tough one as Louisville came storming back from an early deficit.
Louisville (11-10, 5-6) was playing its first game since the departure of coach Chris Mack, with that change occurring Wednesday in what has been described as a mutually agreed upon separation. Mike Pegues was in the place as interim head coach, a role he’s expected to hold for the rest of the season. Pegues had filled in at the beginning of the season while Mack was serving a suspension.
Mark Williams added 14 points and 11 rebounds, Paolo Banchero had 11 points and 15 rebounds and Wendell Moore Jr. posted 10 points for Duke.
El Ellis pumped in 18 points off the bench to go with Dre Davis’ 16 points and Malik Williams’ 10 points for Louisville, which lost for the sixth time in its last seven games.
Entering the game, Duke allowed opponents to shoot only 26.4 percent on 3-pointers this month and that defense was clutch again even though the Cardinals made eight of 22 shots from long range.
The Blue Devils, who were beginning a stretch of three straight road games, struggled at the free-throw line by going 8-for-18.
Duke opened the game by going up 22-7. But it was 37-35 by late in the first half after the Cardinals strung together a 14-5 spurt in a three-minute span. The Blue Devils led 40-35 at the break.
Louisville, which made its last six shots of the first half and its first four shots of the second half, caught up at 45 early in the second half and pulled even again at 60.
The decisive run in which Griffin made two 3-pointers followed and the Blue Devils closed out the win.
Duke played its third straight full game without injured guard Trevor Keels, a starter who’s close to returning to action following a leg injury during a loss at Florida State.
One of Duke’s most impressive comebacks ever came in 2019 at Louisville, with the Blue Devils wiping out a 23-point hole with less than 10 minutes to play for a 71-69 win.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record against Louisville improved to 8-9.
–Field Level Media
