By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Duke has rarely lost to Kentucky in the Champions Classic and continued its dominance Tuesday night.
The Blue Devils notched their second straight victory over the Wildcats in the prestigious event with a 79-71 win in the season opener for both teams at Madison Square Garden.
“This was a ‘moment’ kind of game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “For us to be in that game and one of our better players (TyTy Washington) did not play well, they’re two good players played really, really well, we had a chance to win. That’s crazy.”
Kentucky, which lost to Kansas in the event last year in Indianapolis, was overwhelmed by the Blue Devils, 118-84, three years ago at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
With its latest win, Duke improved to 3-1 against the Wildcats in the four-team event.
“They’re tough and we’re tough,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That was a big-time game. … John’s got a really good basketball team.”
In his debut, Oscar Tshiebwe led the Wildcats with 17 points and 19 rebounds, the most ever in a UK first game. Sahvir Wheeler, also a transfer, followed with 16 points and completed a double-double with 10 assists.
Although Duke led 69-54 with nine minutes remaining, the Wildcats used an 11-0 run and trimmed the margin to 69-65 with six minutes left. The Blue Devils regrouped and tallied 11 straight to stay in the lead and hold on down the stretch.
“We fought and we were in the game,” Kentucky forward Jacob Toppin said. “We shot 37 percent (from the field) and that’s not good and we were still in the game. We’ve just got to make shots. We had good opportunities to make shots, but they just didn’t go. We definitely fought as a group.”
Wheeler scored 12 points in the first half. He also had five of the team’s nine assists in the opening half and finished with 10 assists.
Kentucky missed its first six attempts, but steadily got into a rhythm and began converting, especially from long rang. Kellan Grady, also a transfer who enjoyed a stellar career at Davidson, knocked down three crucial 3-pointers in the opening half to keep the contest close while Tshiebwe was on the bench with two fouls.
Krzyzewski, in his 42nd and last season with the Blue Devils, improved to 7-2 against the Wildcats.
Despite the loss, Calipari was pleased with his team’s ability to compete.
“It was an enjoyable game,” he said. “We learned, hopefully they learned.”
In the opener, Ochai Agbaji tossed in a career-high 29 points to lead No. 3 Kansas to an 87-74 win over Michigan State.
Classic continues
The State Farm Champions Classic has been renewed for three more seasons through the 2025 season.
Kentucky will play Michigan State in 2022 at Indianapolis, Kansas in 2023, Duke in 2024 and Michigan State in 2025. Sites for 2023-2025 have yet to be determined.
“The State Farm Champions Classic has been a staple of the college basketball landscape for the past decade with four of the sport’s marquee programs annually ushering in the start of the season in primetime on ESPN,” said Clint Overby, vice president, ESPN Events. “We are excited to continue to work with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State to extend this event for another three years as we build on the outstanding tradition of the Champions Classic.”
Gametracker: Robert Morris at Kentucky, Friday, 7 p.m. TV/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.
Keith Taylor is the sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or via Twitter at keithtaylor21