Monday’s basketball: Tatum leads Duke past Notre Dame
South Bend, Ind. — It’s been a bumpy ride for No. 21 Duke the past month. Now, interim coach Jeff Capel thinks the Blue Devils are coming together.
Jayson Tatum had 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, Grayson Allen scored 21 points and Duke won on the road for the second time in three days, beating No. 20 Notre Dame 84-74 on Monday night.
The Blue Devils hadn’t strung together consecutive wins since the first week of January, and just last week were banned from their locker room by coach Mike Krzyzewski after a disappointing loss to North Carolina State.
“I think we’re growing up, I think we’re becoming tougher,” said Capel, now 3-3 subbing for Krzyzewski, who is still recovering following back surgery. “To be able to go on the road the past three days in two sold-out, hostile environments and to be able to get wins speaks volumes about our guys.”
Luke Kennard and Matt Jones each added 16 points for the Blue Devils (17-5, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who leaned heavily on their starting five, getting all but six points from that group. Kennard and Amile Jefferson both fouled out, and the teams combined for 48 fouls and 52 free throws.
V.J. Beachem scored 20 points and Bonzie Colson had 17 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (17-6, 6-4), which has lost three straight.
After the Irish cut Duke’s lead to six, Jones responded with a three-point play and scored five of the next seven points to push Duke ahead 63-50 with 9:34 left.
“I thought we showed resiliency throughout this whole game,” Capel said. “Every time they made a run, we stepped up.”
The Irish weren’t done yet, reeling off 12 straight points to cut the lead to 63-62 with 6:25 to go, but again the Devils responded, with Allen hitting a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper from atop the key.
That sparked an 11-2 run that pushed the Devils lead back to double digits with 2:29 left.
“Had we been able to get the lead, I thought we might come out of here with one, but they really did a good job keeping us at bay,” Beachem said.
Despite being loudly booed the entire game, Allen had 10 points before the break and hit all four of his free throws down the stretch.
State women
Michigan State 93, (at) Minnesota 74: Tori Jankoska had 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Taryn McCutcheon scored 15, and Branndais Agee and Taya Reimer 11 each for the Spartans (15-7, 5-4 Big Ten).
The Spartans won their second straight under Amaka Agugua, filling in for the ailing Suzy Merchant.
Players of the week
Michigan freshman Kysre Gondrezick, was named the Big Ten player and freshman of the week in women’s basketball.
Gondrezick became the first woman to sweep player and freshman honors in the same week since Nebraska’s Jessica Shepardon Jan. 25, 2016, and the first Michigan woman to win both honors since Dayeesha Hollins on Dec. 21, 2009
... Detroit Mercy’sCorey Allen (Ypsilanti) was named Horizon League freshman of the week for the third time this season..
Allen averaged 21.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals in the Titans’ two games.