When the Kansas basketball program faces top-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, they’ll do so without having to worry about three Duke players who played a big role in the Blue Devils earning that No. 1 ranking in the preseason polls.
Talented freshmen Marques Bolden, Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum have yet to play a game for the Blue Devils, who raced out to a 2-0 start with easy victories over Marist and Grand Canyon over the weekend. And it does not look like the match-up with Kansas in the annual Champions Classic is going to be their first game either.
Speaking after Duke’s Sunday victory over Grand Canyon, head coach Mike Krzyewski told reporters, “I don’t anticipate these guys playing on Tuesday, and they might not play all week.”
Good news for Kansas, bad news for the event, which has become one of the most exciting early-season tip-off classics and is expected to draw more than 50 NBA scouts to one of the best basketball venues in the world.
KU coach Bill Self certainly is not planning to feel too sorry for Coach K and the Blue Devils, who still saw five players reach double figures in both weekend victories and features five other former McDonald’s All-Americans who figure to give Kansas all it can handle, including leading scorer and national player of the year candidate Grayson Allen along with super sixth man Frank Jackson.
> “They’re still gonna have plenty of
> guys that are capable of playing very
> well,” Self said. “They still have
> good players. They’ve still got
> McDonald’s All-Americans playing with
> those other guys who can play. It just
> goes to show you how deep they are.”
With Krzyzewski revealing that the talented trio was not likely to play on Tuesday, Self said he had no reason to believe that would not be the case. Beyond that, though, he said Kansas would not prepare any differently whether those guys were playing or not playing because most of KU’s preparation for Duke — and most of its opponents — comes down to one thing.
> “If they have two bigs in the game,
> we’ll prepare (one) way and if they
> have one big in the game we’ll prepare
> (another) way,” Self said. “That’s
> gonna be the case regardless of who’s
> out there.”
Kansas’ current roster features three former McDonald’s All-Americans — Josh Jackson, Udoka Azubuike and Carlton Bragg Jr.
That tie is far from the only connection these two blue blood programs have at the highest levels of college basketball.
Kansas and Duke are two of just four NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs with more than 2,000 all-time victories. Kentucky (2,205), leads with Kansas (2,186) in second, followed by North Carolina (2,177) and Duke (2,087).
Dating back to 1990, Kansas’ 27 current consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the nation’s longest active streak, and is tied for the NCAA record. Duke is next with 21.
KU has five national championships, including three NCAA titles, while Duke has five NCAA championships.
Kansas ranks fourth in all-time NCAA Tournament games played at 144. Duke is fifth at 141.
Kansas and Duke have met 10 times, including eight match-ups on neutral floors and five in the NCAA Tournament. Three of those five were in a Final Four (1986, 1988, 1991). Duke defeated Kansas, 72-65, in the 1991 NCAA Tournament title game.
