No. 2 Duke rallies from 23 down, beats No. 16 Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Cam Reddish made a tying 3-pointer with 1:28 left and the go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds remaining, helping No. 2 Duke overcome a 23-point second-half deficit to beat No. 16 Louisville 71-69 on Tuesday night.

After making 2 of 17 shots to open the second half, the Blue Devils (22-2, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got hot and shut down the Cardinals over the final 9:54. Zion Williamson (27 points, 12 rebounds) ignored foul trouble and instead drew whistles in his favor, making 8 of 9 from the line before Reddish added a couple of 3s in between free throws - the last two of which followed an official review of a play under Duke's basket.

Christen Cunningham tried to tie it for Louisville (17-8, 8-4), but his jumper in the lane bounced off the rim and into Williamson's hands as the final seconds ticked off. The Blue Devils celebrated as they left the court after completing the second-biggest second-half comeback in program history.

Reddish scored 16 of his 22 points after halftime and RJ Barrett added 13 for Duke, which won its eighth in a row despite shooting a season-low 37 percent from the field.

Jordan Nwora had 23 points and Dwaynme Sutton 15 for Louisville, which dropped its second straight. The Cardinals shot 42 percent but just 9 of 24 in the second half.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Duke continued its pursuit of the No. 1 spot with a gutsy rally. Louisville has work to do against Clemson if it wants to stay in the AP Top 25.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils looked flat in stretches and seemingly couldn't make anything from the field. But they regrouped and came away with a strong if ragged follow-up to their win over Virginia.

Louisville: The Cardinals seemingly had this one in control for the first 10 minutes of the second half but became tentative. They missed shots in the process and lost a chance to earn a signature win that could've strengthened their conference hopes.

UP NEXT

Duke hosts North Carolina State on Saturday in the lone meeting between the Tobacco Road schools.

Louisville hosts Clemson on Saturday.