Duke Blue Devils win Maui Invitational championship: Beat Kansas Jayhawks 68-61: NCAA Basketball
The fans who gathered at the Lahaina Civic Centre to witness Maui Invitational final between Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks could not have asked for a better encounter
Kansas came into this game oozing with confidence after crushing UCLA Bruins in the semis but tonight they were against the most dominant teams in Maui’s Invitational history and despite putting up a good fight and giving everything they had, fell short by few points in the end, lost out 68-61in a spine chiller.
Tyler Thornton, who has had a quiet tournament so far failed to produce an impressive tally in this game even, but scored two most important shots of his college basketball career to seal the victory for Duke.
Kansas were ahead 61-60 with a minute remaining in the game, but out of nowhere, Tyler produced back to back three pointers- the later one from almost an impossible position to provide his team an unassailable lead which proved to be the difference between both teams in the end.
Duke’s coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was spotted biting his nails in the final intense moments, went berserk after Thornton’s game sealing shot went inside. He was all praise for the game winner in the post game interview;
"It's a dream shot. People will say it's a lucky shot, but I'll say I'm lucky to have him on my team. Sometimes you're on a bus with a guy who deserves and for that moment we were on his bus. Thank goodness he knew how to drive it."
Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly also played an important part in the win and scored 17 points each. Austin Rivers, who was outstanding in the last game, was yet again instrumental and also chipped in with his 10.
From Kansas, Tyshawn Taylor scored 17, while Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey both completed double-doubles and finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 14 points, 10 rebounds respectively.
Kansas started well and managed to stay ahead of the opponents in first 10 minutes of the game courtesy of Thomas Robinson and Withey’s aggression. But then, Ryan Kelly jumped into action and scored quick 9 points to take Duke ahead by 24-19 with 8 minutes remaining in the half.
However a magnificent 16-5 run by Kansas in the last few minutes again helped them regain the lead and by the end of first half, they were ahead by 35-31.
Courtesy of Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee, the Blue Devils not only managed to slash the deficit but got ahead 49-46 in the first ten minutes of second half. In next few minutes, both teams displayed shades of brilliance on both ends of the court as the lead kept on shifting. With three minutes remaining, Andre Dawkins hit a downtown shot to take Duke ahead by 60-58 but it was immediately answered by Elijah Johnson’s three in the next minute.
It was there, that Tyler hit two treys to steal the game from Kansas.
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