Paulo Banchero scored 20 of his 21 points in the first half and No. 5 Duke held off top-ranked Gonzaga 84-81 Friday night in the Continental Tire Challenge before a capacity crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Wendell Moore Jr. added 20 points for the Blue Devils (7-0), including some clutch free throws down the stretch, and Mark Williams had 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and nine rebounds.
Julian Strawther led Gonzaga (6-1) with 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds. Preseason All-American Drew Timme had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists despite battling foul trouble. Chet Holmgren added 16 points and seven rebounds and Rasir Bolton scored 15 points.
Moore broke a 73-all tie with two free throws with 4:31 left.
Neither team scored again until Duke’s Trevor Keels made a free throw with 1:49 to go to make it 76-73.
Timme made a layup to make it a one-point game before Moore made two more free throws, extending the lead to 78-75 with 1:06 left.
Holmgren scored on a dunk after a pass from Timme before the Blue Devils’ Jeremy Roach made a driving layup with 48 seconds remaining for an 80-77 lead.
Moore added two more free throws with 29 seconds to go to make it 82-77 before Bolton scored on a layup with 21 seconds left.
Moore converted one of two free throws with 19 seconds left before Holmgren grabbed an offensive rebound and made a dunk with 2 seconds left to pull Gonzaga within 83-81. Roach made one free throw with 1.2 seconds to go for the final margin.
Duke led 45-42 at the half behind Banchero.
The Blue Devils led 19-18 midway through the first half when Banchero, a freshman from Seattle who was recruited by Gonzaga, led an 8-0 run in a span of 57 seconds.
Banchero converted a three-point play with 10:23 left, assisted by Williams’ dunk with 9:51 to go and then made a 3-pointer with 9:26 remaining to give Duke a nine-point lead, their largest of the game.
Bolton, a transfer from Iowa State via Penn State, helped keep the Zags close by scoring 13 points in the first half, making three 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
