Tyler Thornton clutch as Duke tops Kansas in thrilling Maui final

Maui, HI, United States (AHN Sports) – Tyler Thornton drilled a pair of clutch three-pointers in the final two minutes, helping the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils outlast the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks in a thrilling Maui Invitational championship game Wednesday night at Lahaina Civic Center.

The unheralded Thornton delivered the back-breaking trey with 20 seconds left that made it 66-61, sealing the epic matchup between the two storied basketball programs and giving Duke its fifth Maui Invitational crown.

Duke now has the most titles at this event. The Blue Devils also dominated this annual early-season college basketball tournament in ’92, ’97, ’01 and ’07.

After KU’s Elijah Johnson connected on a 3-pointer with 1:33 left that put the Jayhawks up 61-60, Thornton, who scored a total of four points in the previous two contests, responded with his own 3-point shot 23 seconds later.

The little-used Duke sophomore guard then launched an off-balanced shot from the 3-point area to help the Blue Devils secure the throne as the kings of Maui.

Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils have never lost a game in this event and remain undefeated 15-0 all-time in the tourney.

Duke (7-0), which restructured with an impressive recruiting class after losing its top three scorers from last season, was paced by Ryan Kelly, whose dominating inside-outside game resulted in 17 points, three boards and three assists.

Kelly was recognized with MVP honors.

Mason Plumlee also tallied 17 points and pulled down 12 boards, while Austin Rivers and Seth Curry scored 10 and nine points, respectively, for the victors.

Thornton came off the bench to score seven points, including the two biggest shots in the contests. He went 2-of-3 from the 3-point area and was 50 percent from the field (2-of-4) in 21 minutes of play.

Tyshawn Taylor led the way for the Jayhawks (3-2) with 17 points but accounted for 11 of the 17 Kansas turnovers. Thomas Robinson had 16 points and 15 boards, while Jeff Withey chipped in 14 points in the loss.

Duke and the Jayhawks have met nine times in their respective storied histories, with five of those clashes occurring in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils own a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series with Kansas.

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