Kon Knueppel Stats Tonight - How did the Duke star fare vs Arizona? (Nov 22)
Kon Knueppel supported Cooper Flagg well, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the second half to help No. 12 seed Duke pull off a 69-55 victory over No. 17 ranked Arizona in a Top 25 nonconference clash on Friday at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona.
The 6-foot-7 freshman had a slow start but made all his 3-pointers in the second half for the Blue Devils, who quelled all rallies by the Wildcats to secure their fifth win in six games while handing Arizona their second straight defeat.
Knueppel finished with seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes. The small forward bounced back from his bad shooting night against Kentucky, making three 3-pointers in six attempts.
The five-star forward took almost 19 minutes to score his first two points on a jumper, which put Duke ahead by six points, 33-27.
In the second half, Knueppel made his first 3-pointer at the 15:33 mark which handed the Blue Devils a 43-31 edge. Just as Arizona was mounting a comeback, the small forward buried his second triple to hike Duke's lead back to 10, 58-48.
Knueppel buried his third 3-pointer off a Maliq Brown feed, giving the Blue Devils a 62-49 advantage with 3:56 remaining. He'll record two consecutive assists to Cooper Flagg in the team's next possessions to provide Duke a 66-55 edge with 1:19 left.
He'd end his night by going 2-of-2 in the foul line to give further separation before the final buzzer sounded.
Here are Kon Knueppel's stats in Duke's win over Arizona:
Kon Knueppel's second-half explosion helps Duke win its first game against a Top 25 team
Kon Knueppel's 11 second-half points were one of the decisive factors in Duke's victory against fellow Top 25 team Arizona.
The small forward's first 3-pointer at the 15-minute mark of the second half boosted his confidence and gave the Blue Devils their first double-digit lead. Knueppel made two more triples keeping the rallying Wildcats at bay in the last four minutes of the encounter.
The five-star freshman has made 50% of his 3-point shots over the last two games, effectively bouncing back from a horrible shooting night (5-20 FG) against Kentucky where he made only one in eight tries from deep.
Up next for Duke is the highly-anticipated Vegas Showdown encounter against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday at the T-Mobile Arena. The Jayhawks are coming off an 84-66 win over UNC Wilmington on Tuesday.
What do you think about Kon Knueppel's performance against Arizona? Let us know your views in the comments section.