Duke’s Kon Knueppel still waiting for his NCAA Tournament moment to arrive

Kon Knueppel was 1-for-5 from 3-point range late in Duke’s first meeting with Arizona, back in November.

Not great.

Then he hit two big shots in the final six minutes that essentially put the Wildcats away, perhaps his biggest game-changing moment of the season, still, all these months later.

Knueppel has been a consistent scorer, vital defender and essential cog in the ruthless Duke machine, but in some ways he’s still waiting for another moment like that Arizona game, just as another Arizona game arrives in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

Given his talent and versatility, there’s every reason to believe there’s still a big game within Knueppel, an explosive performance that could change the arc of Duke’s season. There’s also an argument to be made that Knueppel, even at the end of a season in which he was second on Duke in scoring behind only Cooper Flagg, still has something to prove at this point.

Even his season-high, against Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament, was fueled by 12 free throws among his 28 points. Two of his other 20-point games came against Miami, one against Maine — outshining Cooper Flagg in his reverse homecoming to open the season — and one in the Cameron blowout of North Carolina.

In Duke’s biggest nonconference games — against Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas, Auburn, Illinois and now Baylor — Knueppel was 7-for-28 from long range, well below both his usual 3-point accuracy (41.7%) and shooting with half the frequency. The numbers are roughly the same if you also include Duke’s three ACC games against teams in the KenPom top 30, against Louisville twice and Clemson.

In the loss to Kansas in Las Vegas, Knueppel got up in the air with nowhere to go and threw the ball away in the lane in the final seconds and Duke down one, and his desperation heave at the buzzer was the eighth and last of his missed 3s in that three-point loss.

There is, to be sure, more to Knueppel’s game than just long-range shooting, specifically his ability to take advantage of Duke’s spacing on offense, attack the rim and get to the free-throw line. That was especially apparent with Flagg in foul trouble in the regular-season finale at North Carolina, and again in the ACC tournament with Flagg out injured.

Knueppel scored 17, 28, 18 and 17 points to lead Duke in scoring in three of those four games, in arguably as pressurized a situation as any games Duke has played this season, even if the opponents (other than Louisville) were not of the same caliber.

The way Tyrese Proctor has been shooting — 20-for-30 from 3-point range over the past three games — it doesn’t really matter what Knueppel does or doesn’t do, and Knueppel only missed one shot in a 12-point effort against Baylor.

But for all of Duke’s talent, even compared to the quiet excellence of Flagg or the shooting inferno Proctor has been lately, Knueppel is Duke’s most explosive offensive player. He’s the most dangerous shooter, but also hardly one-dimensional, given his length and ability to attack the rim.

“I think the big thing with him has just been the maturity, and then the steadiness,” Duke guard Sion James said Wednesday. “He’s been super-steady for us all year. He hasn’t had a big game every game, but just him being out on the court is a threat, and then when he pops, it makes everyone so much better, like he did in the conference tournament.”

Duke has yet to be tested in this tournament the way it was in Charlotte, but at some point, the Blue Devils are going to need Knueppel.

Will it be Thursday night against Arizona, where Caleb Love will undoubtedly do Caleb Love things, for better or worse? Potentially on Saturday against high-octane Alabama’s athletes, the fastest-paced team in the country? Or not until the Final Four, assuming Duke advances and without requiring a big game from Knueppel to do it?

There’s still a big game in him. Just because Duke hasn’t really needed him yet doesn’t mean it won’t.

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This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Duke’s Kon Knueppel still waiting for his NCAA Tournament moment to arrive."

Luke DeCock

The News & Observer

Luke DeCock is a former journalist for the News & Observer.