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No. 6 Duke downs Michigan to reach Maui final

Nov 23, 2011 - 5:16 AM Maui, HI (Sports Network) - Freshman guard Austin Rivers scored a game-high 20 points, as No. 6 Duke bested No. 15 Michigan, 82-75, in the Maui Invitational semifinals.

Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly both finished with 17 points, while Andre Dawkins added 14 points for the Blue Devils (6-0), who will play No. 14 Kansas in Wednesday's championship game.

"Basically we were just trying to be aggressive," said Rivers. "Me and Seth are starting to get a real good relationship with each other on and off the court which is helping us and helping us trust each other on the court."

Tim Hardaway, Jr. scored 19 points -- all in the second half -- to pace the Wolverines (4-1), who have dropped nine of their last 10 meetings with the Blue Devils.

Trey Burke had 17 points in the loss, while Jordan Morgan and Zack Novak ended with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Duke has never lost in the Maui Invitational (15-0) and has won titles in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2007.

The Blue Devils, who topped Belmont and Tennessee to reach the semifinals, opened the game on a 9-0 run and never trailed in the contest.

They utilized a 17-4 run to grab a 30-15 lead late in the first half and held on for a 34-22 advantage at the break.

Curry and Kelly both scored seven first-half points. Kelly added five boards and two blocks, while Dawkins and Rivers both had six points.

Burke paced the Wolverines with eight first-half points, going 4-of-8 from the field. But Hardaway struggled, going 0-for-6 and the Wolverines shot just 34.5 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes of play.

"Austin made some really big plays for us and did a great job on Hardaway, especially in the first half," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Michigan, which defeated Towson and Memphis to advance to the semis, opened the second half with an 11-3 spurt, as Hardaway's three-pointer made it 37-33 with 17:37 remaining.

At the midway point of the half, the Blue Devils began to pull away. Curry, who has scored in double figures in all six games this season, hit a three for a 58-47 advantage.

Rivers then banked home a layup on a hesitation drive before finding an open Curry beyond the arc for a 63-48 lead with 8:04 remaining.

Consecutive layups by Hardaway made it a 71-65 game with 1:05 left, but the Blue Devils hit 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch to seal a championship game berth.

"We were able to weather the storm in the second half," said Krzyzewski. "I thought there was a lot of game pressure when they came back. And I like the fact that they came back against us and then we responded. And then we handled the end-of-game situation well where we didn't spit up the ball and we made our free throws."

Game Notes

Duke is 14-0 in the Lahaina Civic Center...Duke leads the all-time series over Michigan, 21-8...Blue Devils forward Mason Plumlee had six points, five rebounds and a block, becoming the 15th player in Duke history with 100 or more career blocks...The Wolverines shot 61.8 percent in the second half.