For decades to come, every Duke vs. Kentucky matchup, especially in the Champions Classic, will trigger fond memories of the Blue Devils’ 2018 stomping of Kentucky in this same event. But despite having the most heralded freshman class since that Zion-led team, this year’s Duke squad could not deliver a sequel last night in Atlanta.
But the comparisons to that classic 2018-19 Blue Devil squad may still hold water, albeit to a different non-conference matchup.
Weeks after the 118-84 thrashing of the Wildcats in 2018, Duke traveled to Maui and found itself matched up with a Top 5 Gonzaga team in the championship game. That Gonzaga squad had its own NBA talent, headlined by junior Rui Hachimura. Corey Kispert and Brandon Clarke were both starters who would make it to the NBA, while the rest of the Bulldogs rotation was filled with experience.
Despite being down most of the game, the Blue Devils battled back to tie the contest with 1:45 to go, despite only making 5 three-pointers all game. But missed opportunities plagued the young Duke team down the stretch, and the game ended with some classic “hero ball” from RJ Barrett: the freshman took, and missed, four of Duke’s last five shots. Experience won out, and Duke fell by two.
Sound familiar?
Yes, Kentucky is a far cry from that Gonzaga team (although much of the story has yet to be written, as expectations in Lexington will now skyrocket). But the difference in experience between the Wildcats and the Blue Devils couldn’t be more stark: as the ESPN announcing crew mentioned, the youngest Kentucky starter is older than the oldest Duke starter. The Blue Devils also struggled from deep in this contest, even more-so than in 2018 against Gonzaga: Duke made just 4-of-23 threes, a putrid 17%. And yet, the Blue Devils had every opportunity to win the game in the final minute, but fell victim to ill-advised “hero ball” from Cooper Flagg. Experience won out, and Duke fell by five.
While the comparison is certainly not flawless, the key point is this: in a contest against a strong, experienced opponent in which Duke clearly did not have it’s A-game (or perhaps even it’s C-game, especially from beyond the arc), the Blue Devils still had every chance to win. In the one-and-done era, the best Duke teams have typically found ways to win, or at minimum be competitive, when the shots don’t fall, with the 2018 Gonzaga game a prime example. Compare last night’s performance, to, for example, Jon Scheyer’s first team getting embarrassed by Purdue early in 2022, or last year’s squad falling to subpar Arkansas team in a game that wasn’t as close as its final five point margin indicated.
A Blue Devil team that, by all other evidence, should be one of the better shooting teams in recent memory had an extreme outlier performance from deep. Those struggles were exacerbated by the loss of Sion James in the second half, who was quietly playing his best game in a Duke uniform. Khaman Maluach, whose size was invaluable against a big Kentucky squad, was in and out of the lineup with cramping. Despite all that, the Blue Devils led most of the way, with multiple chances to stretch that lead with open threes that just wouldn’t fall. And they still had the ball in the hands of next year’s presumptive No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft to win the game in the final 30 seconds.
All Duke teams lose games, especially young Duke teams. But the best Duke teams have a chance to win every game, particularly the ones where they don’t play their best. That’s what we saw last night. So while losing to Kentucky always brings with it an extra sting, there’s every reason to remain bullish on the Blue Devils potential. And in just over a week, we’ll see how much this squad learned from this experience in another top-tier non-conference matchup at Arizona.
