No. 3 Gonzaga Survive No. 1 Duke in Hawaii
The Gonzaga Bulldogs understood if they were to reach the Finals of the Maui Invitational, the team standing across from them in all likelihood would be the Duke Blue Devils.
That’s a challenge they were up for.
In a entertaining thriller, the Gonzaga Bulldogs picked up a 89-87 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center to win the Maui Invitational.
Rui Hachimura led the Bulldogs with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks as he came up huge for Gonzaga, including a basket to give them the lead at 89-87 with 1:17 left to play.
Brandon Clarke made a game saving block on a driving RJ Barrett, who’s layup attempt was sent away in the final seconds before the buzzer sounded.
Gonzaga dominated throughout, holding a double digit lead at the end of the first half and then leading by as many as 16 points early in the second half.
Duke’s talented trio of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish led the charge in the second half to draw Duke to a tied game in the final two minutes after the large deficit, but Gonzaga’s defense held serve to preserve a game they almost let slip away.
Both teams entered 5-0, with head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils getting much of the attention, with freshman phenoms Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett fueling a team that dominated Kentucky in their first game of the season in a 118-84 shellacking.
They met their match on Wednesday night in the now 6-0 Gonzaga Bulldogs, who should now leap frog the Blue Devils for No. 1 in the College Hoops Rankings.
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