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Curry, Duke hold off Kentucky rally

Nov 14, 2012 - 7:31 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Seth Curry sank three triples en route to a game-best 23 points as the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils came away with a 75-68 victory over No. 3 Kentucky in Champions Classic action from the Georgia Dome.

Mason Plumlee recorded 18 points and dished out three assists, but turned the ball over five times before fouling out for the Blue Devils (2-0).

"Veterans and talent," Krzyzewski said of his team. "Now, I wouldn't mind having some of their guys. And I'm sure they would like to have some of our guys."

Ryan Kelly and Rasheed Sulaimon added 10 points apiece in the triumph, Duke's third in a row over Kentucky.

Alex Poythress totaled 20 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (1-1), who received 16 points each from Archie Goodwin and Nerlens Noel.

"This was a big game for these guys," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. "They were in Vegas playing AAU ball four months ago."

The defending champions haven't bested their foes from the ACC since the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

Julius Mays sank a trey off the break which pulled Kentucky within 64-59 inside of five minutes left, and though Goodwin missed a dunk on the next possession, another Duke miss gave the ball back to Kentucky, and Goodwin's layup brought it to 64-61 with 3:29 on the clock.

Curry sank two from the line on the next touch, then Poythress grabbed his own rebound and scored in the paint. Curry followed by flipping home a layup and Duke led 68-63 with 1:09 to play.

From a timeout, Goodwin traveled, then Tyler Thornton made two from the line to boost the edge to 70-63. Goodwin was fouled on his way to the bucket but made 1-of-2 for a six-point spread.

Curry made two more from the charity stripe, and Goodwin countered at the other end to keep the deficit at six. But Sulaimon made one from the charity stripe and Ryan Kelly's dunk in the final seconds sealed it for Duke.

The Blue Devils scored five of the game's first six points, but saw Kentucky roar back to take a 15-9 edge. Plumlee's three-point play capped a 13-6 burst and put Duke up 22-21, then its lead ballooned to as much as five before a Poythress make closed out the half at 33-31 for the veteran Duke squad.

A 15-5 burst early in the second half gave Duke a 58-44 edge after Sulaimon connected from long distance, but Kentucky chipped away.

Poythress' dunk began the surge, followed by a Kyle Wiltjer slam and one from Noel. Goodwin and Poythress added buckets, then two from the line by Mays shrunk the 'Cats deficit to 64-56 with 5:18 remaining.

Game Notes

This was the first meeting between these perennial powerhouses since Dec. 18, 2001, when Duke claimed a narrow 95-92 decision ... Kentucky's last victory occurred on Mar. 22, 1998, when the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four with an 86-84 decision in the South Regional final.