Freshman Austin Rivers scored 18 points, and No. 5 Duke survived a bad day at the free-throw line to hold off Washington 86-80 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Blue Devils (9-1), who have won two in a row since losing at No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 29, shot just 27-for-44 (61.9 percent) from the free-throw line. Washington (4-4), which trailed by 17 points midway through the second half, took advantage of Duke’s inability to put the game away.

Washington rallied to within 78-72 on Abdul Gaddy’s layup with 59 seconds left, but could get no closer.

Duke used a 17-5 run midway through the first half to build a 30-13 lead. Rivers and Mason Plumlee scored four points each during the run, and Andre Dawkins’ 3-pointer with 6:46 left in the half gave Duke a 30-13 lead.

Dawkins added 17 points off the bench. Ryan Kelly scored 16 points with nine rebounds. Plumlee scored 12, but shot only 2-for-11 from the free-throw line.

The Huskies entered the day sixth in the nation in rebounding, but were outrebounded 39-32. Washington lost leading rebounder Aziz N’Diaye to a sprained knee early in the second half.

Tony Wroten led Washington with 23 points. C.J. Wilcox added 22 points.

The Blue Devils are off until hosting UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 19. Washington hosts UC-Santa Barbara on Friday.