Duke, Kentucky Are Tipping Off Their Regular Seasons Tonight, Opposing One Another In The State Farm Champions Classic At Madison Square Garden In New York
On March 28, 1992 Duke edged Kentucky in a game that ESPN has voted as the greatest college basketball game ever played.
Sean Woods hitting with 2.1 seconds left to give Kentucky the lead then Christian Laettner hit the shot to send Duke past Kentucky in the East Regional Final.
Though that wasn’t all he did as Christian Laettner also scored 31 points, went 10-10, received a technical foul for intentionally stepping on Aminu Timberlake after the play was dead. Christian Laettner wasn’t ejected!
“according to bigbluehistory.net”
Then Mike Krzyzewski was opposing Rick Pitino!
Tonight as Mike Krzyzewski begins coaching his final season as the head coach of the Duke Men’s Basketball Program before retiring he will be opposing John Calipari as Duke, Kentucky oppose one another in the State Farm Champions Classic!
Duke is ranked number 9 in the preseason poll while Kentucky is right behind them ranked number 10 in the preseason poll!
“according to espn.com”
Duke and Kentucky’s last meeting came on November 6, 2018 when they opposed one another on the hardwood in Indianapolis Indiana in the State Farm Champions Classic.
In that game Duke won 118-84!
- RJ Barrett scored 33 points and Zion Williamson added 28 in their first college games, leading No. 4 Duke over No. 2 Kentucky
Both Barrett and Williamson surpassed Marvin Bagley III's program record for points by a freshman in his debut at 25. Cam Reddish added 22 points and Tre Jones had six, giving Duke's freshmen a combined 89 points.
The teams set a Classic record for most combined points, set hours earlier in No. 1 Kansas' 92-87 victory over No. 10 Michigan State.
Keldon Johnson scored 23 points to lead Kentucky. Graduate transfer Reid Travis added 22 for the Wildcats, who had won all nine previous season openers under Calipari.
The highly-anticipated game between two of the nation's most successful college programs was never close. Duke led by 10 after six minutes and extended the lead to 34-13 less than 10 minutes into the game.
The Blue Devils didn't stop with that flurry.
After making it 59-42 at halftime, Duke kept pulling away throughout the second half. Barrett's dunk with 16:11 remaining made it 72-47, Alex O'Connell's 3-pointer with 11:45 remaining made it 91-54 and Duke topped the 100-point mark on another dunk by Barrett with 7:36 left.
Kentucky only got as close as 27 until the waning moments.
Barrett was 13 of 26 from the field while Williamson was 11 of 13 with seven rebounds.
“according to an article on goduke.com”
In that game Kentucky lost to Duke by a score of 84-118!
– Keldon Johnson scored 23 points and Reid Travis had 22, but second-ranked Kentucky lost to No. 4 Duke 118-84 on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Tyler Herro added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Kentucky.
R.J. Barrett led Duke with 33 points, while Zion Williamson had 28 and Cam Reddish had 22.
Duke (1-0) hit 43 of 79 (54.4 percent) from the floor, including 12 of 26 (46.2 percent) from three-point range, while winning the rebounding battle 38-37. The Blue Devils had just four turnovers, while Kentucky had 15. Duke turned those UK miscues into 27 points, while Kentucky scored eight points off Duke's four miscues.
Kentucky (0-1) hit 26 of 59 (44.1 percent) from the floor, making four of 17 (23.5 percent) from behind the arc. The Wildcats were able to convert 28 of their 38 free throws, for 73.7 percent shooting from the line.
Duke got on the board first via a Tre Jones three-pointer and the Blue Devils quickly built an 8-2 lead. Kentucky cut the lead to 11-8 on a jumper by Johnson, but Duke answered with a 9-0 run to lead 20-8.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 21 points before Kentucky began chipping away at the lead. A 13-4 run, capped by a Johnson jumper, cut the lead to 38-26 with 6:50 left in the first half. But the Cats would get no closer in the half, and Duke took a 59-42 lead into the break. The Blue Devils hit 22 of 40 (55 percent) from the floor in the first half, including six of 12 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Kentucky hit 13 of 32 (40.6 percent), but just one of 10 from behind the arc.
Duke's Barrett had 20 points in the first half, while Williamson had 13. Johnson led UK with 14 points and Travis had eight.
Duke scored the first seven points of the second half to lead by 24. Kentucky would get no closer in the second half.
“according to an article on ukathletics.com”
What will happen this time around as Duke, Kentucky oppose one another?
Will find out tonight as Duke, Kentucky tip off their regular seasons tonight in New York at Madison Square Garden that is home to the New York Knicks of the NBA, The New York Liberty of the WNBA!
Tip off is set for 9:30pm from Madison Square Garden!
The game is going to be televised on ESPN, Jay Bilas, Holly Rowe Dan Shulman are going to be commentating the Duke, Kentucky Champions Classic Game!