The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils beat the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes Saturday night, 79-76.
Duke was looking to pay Miami back for a 90-63 loss on Jan. 23. The Blue Devils were strongly aided by senior forward Ryan Kelly. This was Kelly's first game since he injured his foot on Jan. 8. The Blue Devils are 16-0 when Kelly is on the court and 9-4 without him.
Miami looked like it was in control for much of the first half, leading 27-20 with six minutes to go, but Duke made a run and went into halftime down only 36-34.
With 10 minutes left in the game Duke went on a 10-3 run to go up 63-59, and the Blue Devils extended the lead to 75-65 with 1:56 remaining.
In the final two minutes Miami took advantage of Duke’s four missed free throws of eight free throw attempts and Duke’s turnovers to cut the lead to 79-76, but the Hurricanes were unable to connect on two separate 3-point attempts on their final possession.
Kelly led Duke with 36 points. He made 10 out of 14 shots and was 7-9 from behind the arc. He also went 9-12 from the free throw line and had seven rebounds. Quinn Cook added 15 points, four rebounds and five assists, and Mason Plumlee had 12 points.
Shane Larkin led the Hurricanes with 24 points. Kenny Kadji had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Miami's next game will be against Georgia Tech on March 6 at 9 p.m. (ET). Duke will play Virginia Tech on March 5 at 7 p.m. (ET).
For more information visit www.NCAA.com.
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