Duke stays perfect, defeats reigning champs for the first time in 29 years at home originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Isaiah Evans hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19.7 seconds remaining, lifting No. 4 Duke to a 67-66 win over No. 15 Florida on Tuesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEvans, who had missed his first seven attempts from deep, buried the one that mattered after Florida’s Boogie Fland put the Gators ahead 66-64 with a 3 of his own with 34.6 seconds to go.
Duke (9-0) then survived a frantic final sequence when Maliq Brown tipped Thomas Haugh’s long inbounds heave with 1.4 seconds left, sealing the game inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The matchup featured the reigning national champions visiting Cameron for the first time in non-conference play since 1996. The Blue Devils beat UCLA, who was coming off a national title win over Arkansas the previous season. It also marked the last title for the program with Duke winning three in the in the nearly 30 years since.
Star freshman Cameron Boozer scored 29 points to lead all scorers, while Evans added 13 points and a career-high five of Duke’s 11 blocks. The win marked Duke’s third this season over a ranked opponent and kept its perfect start intact.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore: Cameron Boozer torching Duke record books with feat unmatched by any former Blue Devil
Haugh scored 24 points for Florida (5-3), which erased a 12-point halftime deficit behind a dominant effort on the glass. The Gators outrebounded Duke 44-33, including 20 offensive boards, generating 13 second-chance points after the break to climb back into the game.
Duke will try to extend their streak over ranked foes with No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday (Noon ET, FOX).
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