LAS VEGAS — The kick knocked out Hunter Dickinson, and the long arm of Flory Bidunga saved Kansas.
After the veteran center was ejected for a flagrant-2 foul when he got tangled up with Duke’s Maliq Brown midway through the second half, the five-star freshman played brilliantly the rest of the way in a 75-72 win for the Jayhawks over No. 11 Duke on Monday night.
Bidunga was in the perfect spot when Duke had a chance to win the game in the final seconds trailing by one point. Duke isolated freshman Kon Knueppel against KJ Adams, who forced Knueppel to spin and get stuck in the air, and Bidunga was there to prevent Knueppel from getting a look at the rim. The ball ended up in Kansas wing Rylan Griffen’s hand, and his free throws put Kansas ahead by three.
Duke had one more chance on a heave from Knueppel at the buzzer thanks to a clever sideline-out-of-bounds play drawn up by coach Jon Scheyer, but Knueppel’s shot went hard off the glass and missed.
Dickinson’s flagrant foul will be the water cooler conversation on Wednesday: Was it a kick?
The game was already turning into a classic battle when Dickinson and Brown tumbled to the floor after Brown undercut Dickinson while trying to box him out. When both players were still on the ground, Dickinson’s right foot made contact with Brown’s face. A long review ensued, with the officials determining Dickinson’s kick was intentional and assessing a flagrant-2 foul, kicking him out of the game with Kansas ahead 57-55.
Hunter Dickinson was ejected after being assessed a flagrant 2 foul for kicking Maliq Brown. pic.twitter.com/lXR91RTiWX
— ESPN (@espn) November 27, 2024
A year ago, the Jayhawks would have been toast, but coach Bill Self has himself a bench now. Bidunga scored four straight points upon subbing in and finished with six points, eight rebounds, one block and a steal in his best game yet.
The major difference, though, was KU seniors KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris Jr. controlling the game from start to finish. Adams held Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg to just two points in the first half, and those two did not come with Adams guarding him. Flagg didn’t score on Adams until a lefty layup late in the second half, the only bucket he scored at Adams’ expense en route to a 13-point night with four turnovers.
Adams made his first four shots and finished with eight points, two rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. Harris carried the offense down the stretch, breaking Flagg down off the dribble multiple times to set up huge shots by Griffen (a 3) and Zeke Mayo (a floater).
But Duke had its chance in the final minute, just like it did against Kentucky at the Champions Classic. This time, instead of going to Flagg, Scheyer turned to Knueppel. Both stars spun into trouble.
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
