Knueppel leads sharp-shooting attack as No. 3 Duke tops Miami 89-54 to stay unbeaten in ACC

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) Freshman Kon Knueppel had season highs of 25 points and six 3-pointers to help No. 3 Duke beat Miami 89-54 on Tuesday night to stay unbeaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Khaman Maluach had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils (15-2, 7-0), who shot 54.8% and made 17 of 32 3-pointers, with 11 coming before halftime. Duke led by 24 at the break and never let Miami closer than 19 again.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg – named The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the week earlier Tuesday after scoring an ACC freshman record 42 points against Notre Dame – had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Lynn Kidd scored 20 points for the Hurricanes (4-13, 0-6).

Miami: The Hurricanes have lost six straight and 13 of 14 in a rough season that includes coach Jim Larrañaga stepping down after Christmas.

Duke: The Blue Devils have won 11 straight, including five league wins by 20+ points.

This game got away from Miami at two key points.

First Knueppel and Mason Gillis (12 points) hit 3s to force interim coach Bill Courtney to call timeout, only for Gillis and Knueppel to do it again in reverse order for a 21-8 lead – forcing Courtney to burn a second timeout after only 60 seconds of action.

The Blue Devils later blew it open with a 14-0 run that included another 3 from Gillis and a driving score from Knueppel, which had Courtney burning another timeout down 44-17.

Duke assisted on 17 of 19 baskets and averaged 1.563 points on its 32 first-half possessions to lead 50-26.

Both teams return to action Saturday. The Hurricanes host SMU while the Blue Devils visit Boston College.

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