The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines suffered a 68-63 loss to the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils in Washington D.C. on Saturday. Dusty May’s team was hoping to secure a win in the highly-anticipated non-conference battle, but fell to 25-2 overall with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down.
FIRST HALF
Michigan got off to a solid start as Elliot Cadeau found Aday Mara for a layup on the opening possession, followed by a floater from Morez Johnson Jr. to take a 4-0 lead. However, Duke quickly responded with a 5-0 run to regain momentum.
The ensuing minutes were controlled by Yaxel Lendeborg, scoring 10 straight points to put the Wolverines up 14-12. Just moments after Duke went ahead, Lendeborg answered with a three-pointer to tie it 24-24 with 9:41 left in the first half.
Mara was sidelined for the final seven minutes of the half with three fouls, but Johnson stepped up in his absence, highlighted by a poster dunk over Cameron Boozer to go up 28-27. Cadeau also exited the game with an injury but returned just minutes later.
It was a back and forth first half, but Duke knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room. Lendeborg led all scorers with 16 points and four rebounds in the half, shooting 6-for-9 from the field.
HALFTIME: MICHIGAN 33, DUKE 35
SECOND HALF
Duke opened the second half on a 6-2 run to take its largest lead (41-35) of the game, but the Wolverines scored five straight points — Johnson drilled a three-pointer and Mara sank a hook shot — to cut the deficit to 41-40 with 15:34 to go.
Michigan stayed within striking distance, but a scoring drought of three minutes — including eight straight missed shots — allowed Duke to extend the lead to 55-48. The Wolverines wouldn’t quit, though, quickly putting together an 8-2 run.
Mara scored four straight in a row, then Lendeborg hit a clutch three-pointer to trim the deficit to 57-56 with just 3:46 left. Following a timeout, Boozer scored five straight points to put Duke up 64-58 with less than two minutes remaining.
Cadeau made a three-pointer and two free throws to trim Duke’s lead to 66-63 with 51.4 seconds left, but the Blue Devils came up with a game-sealing offensive rebound and hit a pair of free throws to upset Michigan, 68-63.
FINAL SCORE: DUKE 68, MICHIGAN 63
MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS
- F Yaxel Lendeborg: 21 points (game-high), 7 rebounds, 3 assists
- F Morez Johnson Jr: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks
- C Aday Mara: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
- G Elliot Cadeau: 8 points, 6 assists
DUKE STAT LEADERS
- F Cameron Boozer: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists
- G Isaiah Evans: 14 points, 2 rebounds
- G Caleb Foster: 12 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds
- C Patrick Ngongba: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
UP NEXT
Michigan will look to bounce back following the loss to Duke, returning home to host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Crisler Center on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.