**New York –** There’s so much that goes into the Champions Classic year after year, but that’s especially true when the game is played in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
The hype goes up a level or two, the stage is a little bigger and brighter and the outcome, good or bad, seems to carry the weight of more than a single victory.
That was just one of the benefits KU received from [Tuesday’s, grind-it-out, 77-75 victory over Duke][1] that came when Frank Mason III drilled a pull-up jumper with 1.8 seconds to play to give the Jayhawks’ the victory.
The fact that Kansas beat Duke clearly meant a lot to the team and the fan base, as it would any day of the week, any time of year. But the fact that the Blue Devils were ranked No.1 in the nation when this one came only added to the excitement surrounding it.
No one in Jayhawkland is walking around today believing that this win was as good as bringing home a national championship. But you can’t blame them if it helped validate all of those dreams they’ve had all offseason about this being the team that could bring another title back to Lawrence.
Quick takeaway
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Say what you will about Duke being short-handed — although, to the Blue Devils’ credit they said nothing about it — but this Kansas victory was big time and for more than just evening the record at 1-1 and helping the Jayhawks avoid an 0-2 start for the first time in more than 40 years. KU gained confidence, proved itself as a legit national title contender with a couple of big time players and also got enough from some of its young-and-still-developing players to put a serious boost into the hope and expectations for what guys like Udoka Azubuike, Lagerald Vick and others can be, perhaps sooner rather than later. In short, coming off of a tough Indiana loss in a game the Jayhawks probably should have won, this was the perfect answer for this team at this time.
Three reasons to smile
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**1 – Frank Mason’s a boss.** All offseason, people wondered who would lead this team in scoring. And the options were many. Some said freshman Josh Jackson, others picked Devonte’ Graham and a few others even said Carlton Bragg. I was in the Graham camp. Shame on me. And shame on the rest of us. Mason is this team’s heartbeat, and, better than anyone on the roster, he has the ability to rise up to meet any challenge and deliver. The fact that he can do it in multiple ways — with the drive, with the jumper, on defense, etc. — only makes him seem like more of a bad man. It’s still early and Mason might not end up leading this team in scoring, but I wouldn’t bet against it at this point.
**2 – Let’s give Bill Self a little credit for handling the substitutions brilliantly.** It can’t be easy to put guys in and pull guys out in search of some kind of rhythm and survival when fouls are being called at a record pace. But just about every button Self pushed worked out perfectly. He benched guys with two fouls, reinserted them even with they had four fouls and found enough of a way to create enough continuity and good energy on the floor to help Kansas pull this one off. The players themselves, of course, get some of the credit for this, but overlooking Self’s role in it and just how difficult it can be when the whistles are blowing like they were, should not be done.
**3 – Carlton Bragg’s coming.** He’s still got a long way to go, looks slow and lost too often on defense and still could stand to be tougher, but his last two games — against big time competition — have been far better than his first two against exhibition foes. That’s good news for the Jayhawks. Not only did Bragg put together a decent night against Duke on the offensive end (9 points on 3-of-5 shooting, 3-of-4 from the free throw line) but he also made a couple of his biggest plays in absolute crunch time. One was a baseline jumper with the shot clock winding down and the Jayhawks fighting to hold Duke off. And the other was a big boy rebound on the defensive end, where he went up with authority and ripped it out of the air. He finished with five boards and needs to play more like that and worry less about his offense, but it sure looks like it’s coming.
Three reasons to sigh
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**1 – KU has to get better guarding the ball.** Duke’s guards are terrific — as were Indiana’s — and there were a few times where the Jayhawks locked down on the perimeter. But there were still far too many times when the Blue Devils blew right past their men and got the rim for easy buckets. Self said the Jayhawks need to be better playing with their heads and their feet on the defensive end and the next few weeks should offer an opportunity to get there and feel better about it. But, if nothing else, this early season test has shown the Jayhawks that they absolutely need to become better one-on-one defenders if they want to contend at the highest level with the top teams.
**2 – Landen Lucas is laboring.** Maybe it’s the injured foot, maybe it’s the new rules emphasis, maybe it’s the new team and figuring out how the pieces fit. But Kansas needs him. I posted [a blog earlier today that said there’s no reason to panic][2] about Lucas’ start, but if there’s one area that is a concern here it’s that it looks like it’s bothering him. I don’t remember seeing Lucas look at the officials after no-calls or tough contact plays as much as last year and, to me, that’s a sign of a guy who’s battling through something — in this case a sore foot — and looking to get a little help to get through it. It’ll come. And Lucas will figure it out. But this team cannot reach its ceiling without him.
**3 – Self talked about it after the Indiana game and it’s still a little bit of an issue.** The Jayhawks pick some weird times to take some awful shots and have a little bit of poor shot selection plaguing them right now. Luckily for Kansas, the big time scorers on this team have it figured out and rarely jack up bad shots. But the other guys taking those bad shots takes an opportunity away from the front-line guys to take good ones, which only compounds the problem. Again, it’s early, but that’s among the biggest areas of this team’s offense that needs to be cleaned up.
Next up
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Kansas’ wild road trip from Lawrence to Hawaii, on to New York and back to Lawrence is over and the Jayhawks will host Siena at 7 p.m. Friday in their home opener. The opponent and the venue both will be welcomed for this team that has to be a little exhausted, physically and emotionally.
— See what people were saying about KU’s matchup against Duke during KUsports.com’s live coverage.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2016/nov/15/fearless-frank-mason-drills-game-winning-shot-77-7/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2016/nov/16/landen-lucas-slow-start-no-reason-to-pan/
By the Numbers: Kansas 77, Duke 75
