Duke Basketball vs. Creighton Live Updates

Duke 66, Creighton 50 (FINAL): Curry and Sulaimon, combining for 38 points, finished off the Blue Jays, and Duke marches on to the Sweet Sixteen and a matchup against No. 3 seed Michigan State.

Duke 45, Creighton 34 (7:31 second half): The Blue Jays look sloppy on the offensive end, turning the ball over and failing to find McDermott, their only real threat thus far in the game. Duke, on the other hand, has started to find some rhythm. Curry converted a pair of free throws to join Sulaimon in double-digit scoring, and Jefferson scored from the block for his first points of the night.

Hairston fouled out with over nine minutes left to play, and now the Blue Devils might just have to hold onto their slim lead if their bigs all exit the game on fouls. But with Curry's play on the offensive end—the senior now has 13 points—the Blue Devils might be able to survive even if all their interior players are gone.

Duke 39, Creighton 32 (11:54 second half): Duke came out of the timeout, and Kelly made a sweet dish in the lane to Cook for an easy bucket to restart the Blue Devil offense.

Hairston then proceeded to pick up his third and fourth fouls on the same defensive possession. Freshman Amile Jefferson came off the bench, and will likely see extended minutes the rest of the way.

Curry finally found his stroke from long range, benefitting from a loose ball situation that resulted in an open look from downtown and the senior guard's first 3-pointer of the night. After an empty possession for the Blue Jays, Curry converted an easy layup off an inbounds play to put Duke up by nine. But Kelly quickly picked up his fourth personal foul, and now the Blue Devils could be facing a dire situation with their three bigs all close to fouling out.

Duke 32, Creighton 27 (15:53 second half): The foul trouble continued early on for the Blue Devils—Plumlee picked up his third personal just 30 seconds into the half and sent McDermott to the line for two easy points.

Both teams are also recording fouls almost as quick as field goals. For the Blue Devils, Kelly has three fouls, while Hairston and Plumlee have two apiece. For Creighton, Avery Dingman has three fouls and Gibbs and Jahenns Manigat each have two.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Duke's offensive drop-off after its impressive offensive performance against Albany—Cook had just two points and three assists in the first half, after facilitating the Blue Devils' scoring brilliantly against the Great Danes.

Duke 20, Creighton 19 (3:19, first half): Kelly is not having an easy time defending McDermott, who converted a tough look from just outside the paint, and then on the following possession was fouled by Cook and knocked down both of his free throws.

Josh Hairston picked up his second foul with just under seven minutes left in the half. McDermott is starting to get hot, and the Blue Devils may not have anyone left to guard the Blue Jay forward by the end of the game with all the personal fouls piling up.

The story of the first half so far—McDermott has 11 points, Kelly has zero. Kelly also picked up his third foul with just under four minutes left to play.

Duke 14, Creighton 9 (7:48, first half): Coming out of the timeout, Kelly stayed on the bench, and Plumlee drew the assignment of guarding McDermott. But with Kelly sitting out, Blue Jay head coach Greg McDermott took the opportunity to give his son—shooting just 1-of-5 thus far—a breather.

McDermott did not sit long before coming back in and making an impact—not by scoring, but by drawing the second foul on Plumlee. With Duke's interior star most likely sitting for the rest of the half, the Blue Devils may have trouble scoring and shutting down Echenique in the paint.

Duke 14, Creighton 7 (11:29, first half): Mason Plumlee looks very comfortable in the paint being guarded by Echenique. The senior forward continues to use a running move into the center of the lane to get either easy looks at the bucket or kick it out to one of the shooters on the wings.

McDermott finally got on the board by knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Blue Jays within four, but Tyler Thornton responded with a three of his own to extend the Duke lead.

Duke 9, Creighton 4 (15:28, first half): Creighton controlled the opening tipoff and Grant Gibbs slammed home a dunk for the game's opening points. Gregory Echinique blocked Rasheed Sulaimon's shot on Duke's ensuing possession to an eruption of the crowd in the Wells Fargo Center. The Blue Jays are clearly favored by the fans in Philly tonight.

Sulaimon knocked down an open jumper from the elbow to put the Blue Devils on the board, and Curry did the same two possessions later to tie the score at four.

So far Duke is controlling its own defensive glass—a good sign for the often out—rebounded Blue Devils.

After scoring the Blue Jays first four points, Gibbs will head to the bench early in the half with two fouls.

Pregame: No. 2 seed Duke gets set to take on No. 7 seed Creighton in the Round of 32. The Blue Devils' defensive focus for the night—containing Blue Jay forward Doug McDermott, who averages 23.2 points per game. Duke's senior trio of top scorers will have their hands full with Creighton and will rely on the accurate passing of Quinn Cook to help them overcome the Blue Jays tonight.

Starters

Duke: G Quinn Cook, G Seth Curry, G Rasheed Sulaimon, F Ryan Kelly, F Mason Plumlee

Creighton: G Jahenns Manigat, G Grant Gibbs, G Austin Chatman, F Doug McDermott, C Gregory Echenique

Tipoff is set for 9:47 p.m. Follow along here for in-game analysis and @dukebasketball for live twitter updates.

Some pregame notes:

• By beating the Blue Jays Duke would become just the fourth program in NCAA men's basketball history to reach the 2,000 win mark.
• Duke and Creighton have never played each other.
• Duke and Creighton have not shared an opponent all season