CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Duke men’s basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit and defeated Georgia Tech, 78-70, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday, March 13. The Blue Devils (29-3) received a career-high 28 points from Kon Knueppel and scored 52 points in the second half to defeat the Yellow Jackets (17-16).

Knueppel also matched a career high with eight assists, a game high, and secured five boards. Khaman Maluach led all players on the glass with nine caroms, and also blocked a career-high four shots, the most by any player in the contest.

Maluach also reached double-figures, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 (.75) shooting from the field, and Isaiah Evans was Duke’s third double-digit scorer, finishing with 14 points, fueled by a 4-of-8 (.500) performance from beyond the arc. Three different Blue Devils swiped two steals, with Knueppel joined by Cooper Flagg and Mason Gillis in the category.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgia Tech opened with a layup on its first possession of the game, followed by back-to-back layups from Kon Knueppel. The Yellow Jackets took an early lead, 9-6, into the first media break of the game.
• The Yellow Jackets took an eight-point lead, 16-8, following their third three-pointer of the game. The burst reached as large as nine unanswered points, with Georgia Tech growing its lead to 11, 19-8, before Sion James snapped the scoring run with a fast-break layup.
• Georgia Tech held Duke to a 2-of-12 stretch from the field and expanded its lead, 26-12, at the final media timeout of the first half. A thunderous block by Cooper Flagg led to a fast-break three-pointer by Isaiah Evans and forced a Georgia Tech timeout with 3:13 on the clock.
• Duke made three of its final four shots of the first half and trailed by five, 31-26, at halftime. A three-pointer by Knueppel to start the second half gave the freshman nine points and drew Duke within two, 31-29. Two free throws by Khaman Maluach knotted the score at 31 and James drilled a three-pointer to put Duke in front, 34-31, three minutes into the second half.
• A dunk by Tyrese Proctor pushed Duke’s lead to seven, 38-31, with 15:33 remaining. Three-pointers, from Evans and Knueppel, gave Duke its largest lead of the game so far, 48-40, and forced a Yellow Jackets timeout with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
• An alley-oop slam from Maluach, set up by Knueppel was followed up with a fast-break three-pointer from Evans, giving Duke its first double-digit lead, 54-43. Another Maluach dunk pushed the freshman to 12 points on the game and kept Duke in front, 65-55, at the last media timeout of the contest.
• Knueppel scored 11 of Duke’s final 13 points, while assisting on the lone basket that he didn’t score, to help Duke ice away the 78-70 victory.
• NOTESDuke rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half, matching its largest comeback of the season. 
• The Blue Devils also trailed by 14 points at Louisville on Dec. 8, 2024, in an eventual 76-65 victory over the Cardinals.
• The Blue Devils missed their first 13 three-point shots in the opening 16 minutes, then connected on 7-of 17 (.412) from behind the arc the rest of the contest.
• Duke closed the first half on a 9-2 run to narrow the deficit to five points, 31-26, at the break, then scored the first 12 points of the second half to take a 38-31 lead.
• The Blue Devils have now trailed by double figures in five games this season, and have rallied to victories in the last four instances (Auburn, Louisville, NC State, Georgia Tech).
• Duke is now 22-8 when playing ACC Tournament games in Charlotte, N.C.
• With the win, Duke improved to 46-19 (.708) when playing in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament.
• The Blue Devils improved their overall series record over the Yellow Jackets to 80-25, including 19 wins in the last 21 meetings.
• Duke owns an 8-3 record over Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament and have won five straight games over the Yellow Jackets in the event. 
• The Blue Devils swatted seven shots on Thursday, matching a season high for the team. Duke had previously blocked seven shots at SMU on Jan. 4.
• Duke won the rebounding battle, 38-31, and has finished with a positive margin on the glass in all but seven games this season.
• For the 20th time this season, Duke finished with a double-digit advantage for points in the paint, outscoring the Yellow Jackets, 40-26, in the category.
• Duke limited Georgia Tech to just nine fast-break points.
• The Blue Devils got 21 points from their bench, compared to just six for the Yellow Jackets.
• Duke shot 17-of-19 (.895) from the free throw line, its seventh time in the last eight games to finish above 80 percent from the charity stripe.
• Kon Knueppel scored a career-high 28 points, including 22 in the second half. Knueppel shot 7-of-14 (.500) from the field and set a new career high for made free throws in a game, going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
• Prior to his one miss from the line, Knueppel had made 38 straight free throws.
• The 38 consecutive made free throws ranks fourth in program history, behind JJ Redick (54, 43) and Jon Scheyer (40). 
• Knueppel also matched his career high for assists, dishing eight helpers. He had previously set his benchmark for assists against Kansas on Nov. 26, 2024. 
• Isaiah Evans fired off four made three-pointers, shooting 4-of-8 (.500) from deep, en route to 14 total points. The freshman played 17 minutes off the bench and finished the game 5-of-9 (.556) from the field, while also grabbing two rebounds.
• Khaman Maluach also scored 14 points on 6-of-8 (.750) shooting, highlighted by three slams. The freshman led the game with his nine rebounds and blocked a career-high four shots, which matched Cooper Flagg for the most swats in a game by a Blue Devil this season, set against North Carolina on March 8. 
• Patrick Ngongba II contributed 10 key minutes of the bench, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, en route to seven total points, while also grabbing two rebounds and blocking one shot. 
• Tyrese Proctor played in his 100th game as a Blue Devil on Thursday, collecting six points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
• Cooper Flagg (ankle) and Maliq Brown (shoulder) both exited the game in the first half.
• QUOTES“Obviously, that was a different kind of game for us. I couldn’t be more proud of the heart, the character, the competitiveness of our team. I don’t know if we’ve started off a game 0 for 13 from three. It wasn’t going easy for us. I thought Isaiah (Evans) really broke it open. His energy, obviously his shot-making, and then the job, Khaman (Maluach) gets two fouls, Maliq (Brown) gets hurt, and then Pat (Ngongba II), the job he did, coming into the game to pick us up, he had a great block at the rim, had some good finishes, and then all of a sudden at halftime, it’s five, which is a big deal. Then, our response to start the second half, and different guys stepping up, Mason (Gillis) starts right away, Isaiah continued, Kon (Knueppel) throughout the game. I thought our defense was back to being what it should be on that end in the second half, and we saw the ball go in. I’ll just tell you real quick, Maliq was in a lot of pain, and he re-dislocated his shoulder. That’s why — I’m sure some of you saw it, we got him a stretcher just because — to tolerate the pain. He’s at the hospital now. We’ll figure out how he’s doing. I’m going to try to figure out if I can go see him right now. Cooper (Flagg), he just came down, sprained his ankle, X-rays were negative, which is great. We just have to understand there’s going to be swelling and see how he recovers and how he goes from there. But, proud of this team to step up without two of our key guys. A big reason is the two guys next to me (Maluach and Evans). Khaman controlled our entire defense the second half and did a great job talking, protecting the rim, finishing. The two-man game with him and Kon was great. I’m very proud. Very proud of the win.” – Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
• “We were just going to stay together. Obviously, ‘Coop’ (Cooper Flagg) is a huge part of our team. It hurts to see him going down, same with ‘Liq (Maliq Brown), but it’s next man up, and we’re going to keep picking our guys up. I think it just shows that we’re a real team. It’s not really about one person or two people. It’s about Duke. Duke is going to handle business all the time. That’s what we came here to do, we came here to play ball. No matter the circumstances, whatever happens throughout the game, we’re going to keep playing.” – Duke freshman guard/forward Isaiah Evans, about how the team responded after injuries to Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown
• “I feel like in such moments, us just being us and trusting what we do and trusting what we do in practices. And, trust ourselves and pick each other up, like hype each other up, trusting our defense especially. That’s what gets us out of such moments.” – Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach, about Duke rallying from a 14-point deficit
• UP NEXTNo. 1-ranked and top-seeded Duke returns to the court on Friday, March 14, in the ACC Tournament semifinal. The Blue Devils (29-3) will face North Carolina (22-12), with tip off scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will broadcast on ESPN.

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