National Basketball Association
Lehigh 75, Duke 70
When: 7:15 PM ET, Friday, March 16, 2012
Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Officials:
# John Hughes, # Thomas O'Neill, # Zelton Steed
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Lehigh 75, Duke 70: C.J. McCollum scored 30 points as the Mountain Hawks on Friday became the second No. 15 seed to post a stunning upset in the NCAA tournament.
Duke became the sixth No. 2 seed in NCAA tournament history to lose its tournament opener, hours after Missouri lost to Norfolk State.
Lehigh (27-7), the Patriot League tournament champion, will play No. 10 seed Xavier in Sunday's third round of the South Regional.
Lehigh stayed close throughout, never trailing by more than five, and took the lead for good 50-49 on a 3-pointer by Mackey McKnight with 8:32 to go.
The Blue Devils (27-7), playing without injured forward Ryan Kelly, had an opportunity to tie the game with 2:45 left, but Austin Rivers missed a driving layup attempt and McCollum responded with a back-breaking 3-pointer at the other end 15 seconds later.
The Mountain Hawks extended their lead to as many as eight in the closing minute before Duke made a final push, getting within three when Rivers hit two of three free throws with 28.6 seconds left.
Lehigh withstood the challenge again, breaking the Blue Devils' press for a Jordan Hamilton dunk to ice it.
McCollum was 9 for 22 from the field and dished out a team-leading six assists. His performance helped offset an outstanding game from Duke's Mason Plumlee, who finished with 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting and 11 rebounds.
Rivers added 19 points for Duke, while Gabe Knutson finished with 17 points for Lehigh.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Neither team shot particularly well from the foul line, with Lehigh making 25 of 37 and Duke hitting 16 of 23. ... The Blue Devils were 6 for 26 from 3-point range. ... Prior to Friday, a No. 15 seed had not won an NCAA tournament game since 2001.
Top Game Performances
Lehigh |
|
Duke |
C.J. McCollum 30 |
Scoring |
Mason Plumlee 19 |
C.J. McCollum 6 |
Assists |
Tyler Thornton 6 |
John Adams 8 |
Rebounds |
Mason Plumlee 12 |
C.J. McCollum 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Austin Rivers 7 |
Mackey McKnight 3 |
Steals |
Tyler Thornton 3 |
Gabe Knutson 1 |
Blocks |
Mason Plumlee 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Lehigh
|
75 |
42.3 |
6-18 |
25-37 |
12 |
34 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
Duke
|
70 |
41.4 |
6-26 |
16-23 |
12 |
37 |
3 |
4 |
13 |