Kansas Takes Down Duke 69-64 in the Champions Classic
Carrie Underwood waits all day for Sunday Night Football. Well, fans had to wait all of Tuesday for Kansas against Duke after the Kentucky-Michigan State opener to the Champions Classic double-header went into double overtime. And for KU, it was worth the wait.
Duke threw the first punch of the night, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Kansas responded with a haymaker. A Kevin McCullar three and KJ Adams layup made it 5-4, and then after Duke took the lead again at 6-4, the Jayhawks fired off a 12-0 run. Jalen Wilson got going, McCullar hit another three, and Gradey Dick converted an athletic and-one.
The rest of the first half featured sloppiness on the offensive side for KU, but tons of defensive intensity. Kansas recorded seven blocks in the first half and led Duke to two assists while forcing five Blue Devils offensive fouls in the first 15 minutes of the game. Ten Kansas turnovers kept it close, but after Duke cut the lead to two at 27-25, Kansas stretched the lead back out to 33-29 at the half.
The haymakers continued to start the second half. KU was called for three fouls in the first minute, but defense leading to easy layups kept the Jayhawks ahead 37-32. But this time it was Duke who was ready for a run, going on a 9-2 run before Wilson tied it at 41. Duke took all the momentum with a Ryan Philipowski dunk over Adams and then hitting a floater giving Duke a six-point lead.
Coming into the game, Duke’s ability to grab offensive rebounds was one of the key aspects and it proved true. The Blue Devils had 21 offensive boards. Kansas’ answer was forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. Steals and put-backs allowed KU to get back to a 53-51 margin and then an and-one from Wilson made it 54-53.
KU was ice cold from outside, going 2-18 in the first 37 minutes of the game. But getting to the basket and put-backs kept the Jayhawks in it. And then a turnover by Duke led to a Gradey Dick triple in transition to give KU a 61-59 lead. After Roach answered with a three, Harris found Dick for an alley-oop for his ninth assist of the night. Then Harris followed it up drawing another charge. Dick again came through with a ridiculously tough layup with a minute left to put KU up three.
Duke decided to play out the possession—having only fouled three times in the second half—and with 22.2 seconds left, Harris found Adams rolling to the basket for an and-one. He missed the free-throw but it still extended KU’s lead to two possessions. Roach scored with 15 seconds left, but then had to keep fouling to get Kansas into the bonus. Wilson headed to the line with KU up three with 9.2 seconds left and hit both to make it 69-64.
Wilson showed why he’s an All-American candidate, ending with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Dick scored in bursts and came through when it was needed, scoring 14, and Harris was exceptional with 10 assists to go with six points, four rebounds, and 35 minutes of great defense.
The Jayhawks are back in Lawrence to face Southern Utah on Friday in Allen Fieldhouse.
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