NEW YORK (AP) – Jahlil Okafor had 10 points and 12 rebounds and dominated the closing minutes in leading No. 4/3 Duke to a 70-59 victory over Stanford in the championship game of the Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Saturday night.
Fellow freshman Justise Winslow added 14 points and nine rebounds while Quinn Cook contributed 18 points as Mike Krzyzewski got the best of former assistant Johnny Dawkins in the first coaching matchup between the longtime Blue Devils coach and his former player.
Chasson Randle, named to the All-Tournament team, scored a game-high 22 to lead Stanford (3-1). Stefan Nastic had 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds before picking up his fifth foul trying to stop the athletic, 6-11 Okafor from going to the basket.
Okafor was amazing down the stretch, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds and making life miserable in the lane for anyone wearing red.
Winslow and Cook, the tournament MVP, helped Duke build a 15-point lead in the second half but it was Okafor who slammed the door on Stanford after it closed to 51-43 on a floater by Randle with 10:55 to play.
Okafor pushed the lead to 10 with a layup with nine minutes to play and then got the crowd of 10,046 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn excited with a slam dunk after a wonderful pick-and-roll play.
Two free throws by Randle reduced the margin to 10, but Okafor made up for a missed shot by contesting a shot in the paint, which led to a 3-pointer by Jones for a 58-45 lead.
Stanford, which led from start to finish in beating UNLV in the semifinals Friday, led for 11 seconds against Duke after Anthony Brown’s jumper to start the game.
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NOTES: Stanford had won its two previous meetings against Duke. The Cardinal and Blue Devils were matching up for the first time since an 84-83 Stanford victory back on Dec. 21, 2000 … The Cardinal was looking for its first win over a top-5 opponent since beating No. 3/2 UCLA 75-68 on Jan. 28, 2007 … Chasson Randle now trails only Adam Keefe (2,319) and Todd Lichti (2,336) in career scoring on The Farm … Chasson Randle has made 24 consecutive free throws dating back to last season’s final game against Dayton … Tonight marked the second time this season two Cardinal players grabbed 10 or more rebounds. Stefan Nastic and Anthony Brown accomplished the feat against South Dakota … Stefan Nastic played his first 89 career games without logging a double-double. Nastic has two this season in four games … Reid Travis hauled down a career-high 12 rebounds … One night after making 14 three-pointers, Stanford was just 3-14 from beyond the arc … Stanford is 13-9 in preseason tournament play under head coach Johnny Dawkins. The Cardinal also registered runner-up finishes in the 2013 Progressive Legends Classic (lost to Pittsburgh), 2011 Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off (lost to Syracuse) and 2009 Cancun Challenge (lost to Kentucky) … Stanford returns to Maples Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 25, to host Delaware at 8 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
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Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
“We got beat by a very good team tonight. Duke played very well. They were very active. They have so many guys coming in and contributing. They are a very good team. I think they are one of the best teams in the nation. They are the best team we have faced this year. I think we will grow from the experience.”
“Okafor is a great player. He’s a force inside. We tried to give him as many different (defensive) looks as we possibly could. You just aren’t going to completely stop him. He is too good a player.”
“It was difficult to compete against a friend and mentor. Of course it was very awkward. You get so used to being on the same bench and then you are somewhere different. I don’t think that’s something you look forward to. That’s why we don’t schedule each other. It happens in tournaments where you can run into each other, but it’s not something we intentionally try to do.”
“I will always be proud that I was part of a (Duke) class that made such a contribution. I was fortunate to be there when it was just starting to form under Coach Krzyzewski’s leadership. I wouldn’t trade my place for anyone else’s place because of all that we went through together.”
Stanford senior Chasson Randle
“Justise did a great job today. He found gaps in our defense and exploited them. He attacked the basket well. I thought he did a good job on the boards as well.”
Stanford senior Stefan Nastic
“Jahlil is a great player. We definitely prepared for him. You have to respect a guy that is that type of threat. I just tried to give my best effort.”
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
“We’re obviously extremely pleased to win the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. I thought our guys played really good defense again tonight.”
“Our guys followed the lead of Quinn Cook. He was a great leader for us and so was Amile Jefferson. Amile was a warrior. We subbed him out because they were small and against the zone, Justise Winslow was a little bit better in the middle. Matt Jones was playing well. Matt came off the bench and gave us a big spark. I’m really proud of my team. It was a really good performance for us without it being pretty offensive. I liked the personality of our team.”
“Stanford is such a well-coached team. They run a different offense - the triangle - and I thought that we defended that well. Then, they went to some alternative stuff. Randle is one of the best guards in the country. Brown is one of the best shooters. Nastic is one of the best big men. I think Stanford will be right there. Johnny has built a great program at Stanford. I thought in this tournament, their young players got a chance to really help them out. Reid Travis is a player that we tried to recruit that’s going to be a stud for them. So, we beat a really good team tonight.”
“I was worried about our energy. When we came over today, we didn’t shoot. We just did a walkthrough. We shortened our warm-up tonight. We came over a little bit later so we wouldn’t sit around. I was concerned that Stanford would use energy.”