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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils win ugly over Auburn, advance to Title Game

By Kevin Connelly

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils and Horace Spencer #0 of the Auburn Tigers joust for position under the basket during the second half of the game at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils and Horace Spencer #0 of the Auburn Tigers joust for position under the basket during the second half of the game at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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It was a battle in Maui, but the Duke Basketball team prevailed as they defeated the Auburn Tigers to advance to the Championship Game on Wednesday evening.

The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils went throughout their first real test of the season as they went down to the wire with the No. 8 Auburn Tigers in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

The Blue Devils went wire to wire for the victory, but they were challenged constantly by the streakiness three point shooting of the Tigers.

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Auburn had the Duke lead down to five at one point midway through the second half but a very, very deep three pointer from Cam Reddish put the Blue Devils back up by eight and the lowest the lead got from that point was six points at the final buzzer thanks to a three pointer from Jared Harper who finished with 22 points, making six of ten shots from deep.

Reddish and R.J. Barrett led the way for the Blue Devils as they both finished with 18 points, but Reddish had to sit for a majority of the first half due to foul trouble.

Barrett also finished with nine rebounds and two assists, but the biggest start tonight for the Duke Blue Devils was Marques Bolden who provided 11 points, nine rebounds, and seven blocks.

Bolden provided energy and a veteran presence this Duke team needed tonight as the Blue Devils looked like a very young team in important spots during the game.

Zion Williamson put up a stat line that was impressive but he clearly did not have his best performance of his young career after finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.

Every member of the Blue Devils starting five was in double figures as Tre Jones dropped in 10 points along with four rebounds and six assists.

The two most concerning things for the Blue Devils after this game is clearly free throw shooting as they shot 67.6% from the charity stripe on the night, making twenty three of thirty four attempts, and Javin DeLaurier not playing a single minute in the second half.

Mike Krzyzewski only opted to use Jack White off the bench in the second half against Auburn as he ended with six points and seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils will face wither No. 3 Gonzaga or Arizona on Wednesday evening in the Championship of the Maui Invitational at 5:00 pm ET on ESPN.

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