LAHAINA, Hawaii – In a nail-bitter from beginning to end, the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks fell to the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 68-61, in the finals of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center. Junior Thomas Robinson, who recorded his fifth-straight double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, was named to the all-tournament team, the first Jayhawk to earn the honor since Drew Gooden do so in 2001.
The loss drops the Jayhawks to 3-2 on the season, while the Blue Devils move to 7-0.
The 40-minute thriller featured 16 lead changes, 12 ties and no leads of more than seven points for either team. The Jayhawks led for the majority of the opening 20-minutes. As was the case for the entire Maui tournament, the Jayhawks started the game on fire, shooting 50 percent from the field (11-of-22) and added 12 free throws to Duke’s two in the opening half. KU senior Tyshawn Taylor led Kansas with 17 points, including 13 at the break, while Robinson had eight of his 15 rebounds. KU 35-31 lead into the halftime locker room.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams battling for baskets on each possession. The Blue Devils quickly closed the gap in the early minutes of the second period, tying the game at 43 at the 15:57 mark. From there on in the lead changed hands 11 times with neither team getting a lead of more than two points over the suspenseful 12-minute stretch.
As nearly all the Duke-Kansas matchups have ended in the past, this game would come down to the wire as well. The Jayhawks, trailing 63-61 with 50 seconds remaining, needed to stop Duke for one more possession for a try to tie or take the lead. However with, 20 seconds remaining Duke guard Tyler Thornton heaved in a desperation three-pointer that would eventually seal the win for the Blue Devils.
With his 17 points, Taylor became the 54th player in school history to hit the 1,000-point mark. He now ranks 52nd on the all-time scoring charts with 1,013 career points.
Kansas junior center Jeff Withey was a force inside recording his first double-double of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds, notching career-highs in both points and rebounds.
As a team, the Jayhawks shot 42 percent from the field, to Duke’s season-low 39.3 percent. KU also won the battle in the paint for the third-consecutive game, outrebounding the Blue Devils 35-29 and outscoring Duke in the paint 28-20.
– KU Media Relations –