A season ago, Kentucky carried the No. 1 ranking into its Champions Classic game against Kansas and wound up making their first major statement to the rest of the country with a 72-40 rout of the 5th-ranked Jayhawks. While the Wildcats’ 74-63 victory over No. 5 Duke in the same event on Tuesday night wasn’t quite as overwhelming a statement, it still spoke awfully loudly.
3 things we learned from Kentucky’s 74-63 win over Duke
The first showcase game of the 2015-16 season took place Tuesday night in Chicago. Here’s what we learned from Kentucky’s big win over reigning national champion Duke.
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
John Calipari's team got 18 points from Tyler Ulis and 16 from Jamal Murray as the Wildcats controlled the game between the 2015 NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed and its eventual champion. The victory moved UK to 3-2 in the five-year history of the Champions Classic event, while dropping Duke to the same record in the process.
Three things we learned
1. Kentucky’s backcourt is even better than it was last season
UK struggled early on the offensive glass and allowed the Duke frontcourt duo of Marshall Plumlee and Amile Jefferson to combine for 28 points and 25 rebounds. That's a problem they didn't have a season ago when Willie Cauley-Stein, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson were manning the paint in Lexington, and one they'll have to address between now and March.
While there are at least a few questions about Kentucky’s frontcourt moving forward, there’s no question about the Wildcat guards. Tyler Ulis and Murray (and Isaiah Briscoe if you want to toss him in there) showed why many believe they can wind up being the best backcourt in the country by season’s end ... and why others believe they already are.
Ulis commanded Calipari’s offense to perfection, finishing with 18 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers. Murray, his freshman teammate, provided some expected flash, notching 16 points of his own to go along with 5 assists and 3 steals.
While the Harrison twins had size and experience, their halfcourt-oriented style kept Kentucky from playing at the pace where it’s had the most success over the years. The stark change presented by the Ulis/Murray era was on full display Tuesday night with the Cats outscoring Duke 18-0 in fast-break points and 13-3 in points off turnovers.
2. Duke’s freshman aren’t quite ready for the spotlight
While much has been made of Duke becoming the “new Kentucky” in terms of landing one-and-done talent, the latest crop of Blue Devil rookie stars did not appear ready for the bright lights of the United Center Tuesday evening.
Brandon Ingram, the most coveted of Coach K’s 2015 recruits, finished with as many turnovers (4) as points. He made just 1 of his 6 field goal attempts, and recorded just 1 assist and 1 rebound. Derryck Thornton and Luke Kennard didn’t fare any better, combining for just 9 points on 3 of 12 shooting with 4 turnovers.
Duke will be right in the national title mix when the temperature changes again in mid-March, but the play of their youngsters on Tuesday should serve as a gentle reminder that they aren't Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones just yet.
3. The 40-0 talk is about to return
It’s not going to reach the pitch it did a year ago unless Kentucky makes it to at least the second half of the season with an unblemished record, but it was such a major focus of the previous campaign that you know the Cats’ first big win of 2015-16 will give rise to at least some early talk of a perfect season. Some are going to make jokes, some are going to approach the topic seriously, but the 40-0 talk is officially going to be back (in some form) until UK goes down for the first time.
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