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Blue Devils Fight Late, Lose at Pittsburgh

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Duke Blue Devils fought hard to cut the deficit down to two with 2:03 remaining but could not get over the hump as the Pittsburgh Panthers defeated Duke 79-73  on Tuesday night in the Peterson Event Center.

Pittsburgh opened the game with a quick 8-0 run to force Coach Mike Krzyzewski to take a timeout only 1:58 into the game.

After slowly crawling back into position, the Blue Devils used an 8-0 run to take the 14-13 lead with 12:52 remaining in the first half.

Pitt forward Nike Sibande hit a three to give Pitt the 16-14 advantage.

Each team would go back and forth going on mini runs but Pittsburgh would hold strong on defense to hold on to the lead.

Duke would take the lead on a Matthew Hurt three-pointer to give the Blue Devils the two-point 31-29 lead with 3:52 remaining. The long-range bomb was Hurt’s first three of the night. Pittsburgh did a strong job of holding Hurt to only four points in the first half.

Pitt guard Xavier Johnson responded with his own three-pointer eight seconds later to take the lead away from the visitors and spark a 14-0 run to give Pittsburgh the 43-34 advantage after a late Moore Jr three-pointer before the end of the half.

Pittsburgh standout forward Justin Champagnie had 17 points 10 rebs at halftime.

Duke forward Jalen Johnson gave the Blue Devils a big spark in the second half. After only scoring six points, five rebounds, and three assists in the first half, the freshman bounced back in the second half to score 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the final frame in his second game back from a foot injury.

The Blue Devils made a run and cut the game down to three with 2:15 when Jalen Johnson fouled out with Duke trailing 72-69. Johnson ending his night with 24 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and four blocks.

Champagnie finished the game with a career-high 31 points to go alongside 14 rebounds and five blocks.

Matt Hurt would get a contact layup to go with  1:16 remaining to cut the score down 75-73.

Pittsburgh would cap the game off with a monster dunk 77-73 Au’Diese Toney to make it a 77-73 lead. Xavier Johnson would knock down two free throws late to bring the final score to 79-73.

Matt Hurt finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds. Moore Jr chipped in 15 points and four rebounds. Jeremy Roach added 11 points and five rebounds.

Duke (5-3, 3-1 ACC) will return to action on Saturday, January 23 as the Blue Devils will hit the road to face Louisville at 4 PM.