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Preview: KU ready to battle freshman-led Duke in Las Vegas

Preview: KU ready to battle freshman-led Duke in Las Vegas

On November 27, 2024By Littum

Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self calls a play in the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, at Allen Fieldhouse.

After a short break with a pair of home games against mid-major opponents, both of which the Jayhawks did quite well — “get-better games,” as point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. called them – is the difficulty level of Kansas’ schedule approx. to trash up again.

KU travels to meeting no. 11 Duke in Las Vegas at 8:00 PM Central Time on Tuesday as part of the Vegas Showdown event. It’s another battle of powerhouses amid a non-conference schedule for KU that already included North Carolina and Michigan State and still has pending matchups at Creighton, at Missouri and versus NC State.

The grind doesn’t stop for the Jayhawks, even though they just experienced one of their only week-long layoffs all season. Six full days between games is the second-longest span for KU all year, close behind the eight days the Jayhawks get for their vacation between Brown (Dec. 22) and West Virginia (Dec. 31). The Big 12’s 20-game league schedule offers no breaks this year.

Duke is coming off a bit of a layoff after earning an impressive ranking win on the road at another Big 12 foe, Arizona, on Friday, 69-55.

Under Jon Scheyer, the new Duke took a step forward in 2023-24 when it surpassed Scheyer’s first NCAA Tournament appearance by two rounds, upsetting No. 1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16 to reach the Elite Eight. This will be the first game against Scheyer for KU coach Bill Self since Scheyer replaced Mike Krzyzewski when Self was suspended when the Jayhawks beat Duke 69-64 two seasons ago.

“He’s done a great job,” Self said Friday. “And let’s just call it what it is: Duke has been really, really good for a long, long time, in large part because of Coach (K), but also because of the culture they had built over time, recruited other great players and … what Jon has done in a short period of time is very impressive.”

From last year’s team, Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain left for the NBA, and Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach transferred along with five other players. Instead, while the Blue Devils look to climb back to the heights of the Krzyzewski era, this year’s squad depends on several fearsome freshmen, led by 6-foot-9 preseason All-American wing Cooper Flagg, who is widely regarded as a generational perspective. Self compared him to other previously accomplished talents like Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Michael Beasley.

“He would present problems to anyone playing him,” Self said. “He’s great. We recruited him, and I guess got to the final three. Talent, athleticism, skill, but there’s another element that makes him different (which) is that he’s so competitive and tough.”

Flagg scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Duke’s first high-major action of the year, but he showed his youth (he reclassified from the 2025 class) with a pair of turnovers in the final 12 seconds that allowed Wildcats to pull out a 77-72 victory. He later scored 24 against Arizona.

Duke’s young lineup also includes fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel, a double-digit scorer himself at 14.4 points per game. game, and Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center, to go with returning guards Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

Photo by AP/Darryl Webb

Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg (2) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz.

Photo by AP/Darryl Webb

Duke Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel (7) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz.

Photo by AP/John Bazemore

Duke center Khaman Maluach (9) reacts after a Blue Devils basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Atlanta.

“Everybody wants to talk about that one, but the other two are potential lottery picks, if not lottery picks as well,” Self said of the freshmen. “They have a really good roster. And then of course you throw Proctor and Foster in there, it’s pretty good. It’s as good as talent from a starting-five standpoint you’re going to see all year.”

While KU’s rotation relies heavily on fourth- and fifth-year players, Proctor, a junior, is the Blue Devils’ most experienced player — at least in the starting lineup. He and Knueppel each shoot over 40% from deep. They also have transfers like Maliq Brown (Syracuse), Mason Gillis (Purdue) and Sion James (Tulane) coming off the bench.

“We definitely got better with our ball screen defense,” KU guard Rylan Griffen said. “It’s something we have to keep going up when it comes to Duke because they’re so good, so tall and athletic and stuff like that.”

Duke has fielded a high-level defense despite its lack of continuity from previous seasons, holding teams to 57.4 points per game. match; The Blue Devils are also holding opponents to an average of 11 boards per game. game, though that number is inflated by their dominant showings against Maine, Army and Wofford.

It will be a tough match for KU, possibly its toughest of the many preseason tests. As the Jayhawks try to create their identity in the early stages of the year, one particular area stands out for newcomer Griffen, who could also help them greatly against Duke.

“I feel like we’re looking better in transition right now because we’re just advancing the ball and getting easy layups, easy lobs, easy 3s,” he said. “It’s also easier to go against a lackluster defense. I feel like that’s when we’re at our best, and I feel like we can play in transition even more.”

No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (5-0) vs. No. 11 Duke Blue Devils (4-1)

• T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, at 8 p.m. Central Time

• Send out: ESPN

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Keep an eye out

All in: For the first time in years, KU has a fairly sparse Thanksgiving week after playing three games in four days in 2021-22 and three games in three days each of the last two seasons as part of various multi-team events. Self says tournaments like the Battle 4 Atlantis or the Maui Invitational are “when you can actually have a chance to make a team,” and referenced Thursday night’s double-overtime game between Baylor and St. John’s in the Bahamas as one that could “give you momentum for the next month.” The Jayhawks could gain some kind of momentum if the Duke game goes their way, but they don’t play again until Saturday. That means both KU and Duke will be less concerned about MTE-style personnel management: “This will be a game that I’m sure both teams will play to win regardless of the bench situation, that kind of thing,” Self said.

Post presence: Self said he has realized KU needs to play two-big basketball with Flory Bidunga and Hunter Dickinson for five to seven minutes per half. match as he looks to get Bidunga up to 20 minutes. Since Duke can threaten inside with Flagg and Maluach, using this personnel group even more could be to Self’s advantage, especially when paired with some of the Jayhawks’ best shooters. (Well, KJ Adams could be pretty valuable in this game, too.) Self has said he expects Bidunga to be 100% for Tuesday’s game after leaving the UNCW game in the first half with a minor ankle problem.

Screws up: Dajuan Harris Jr. had an outstanding game against UNCW, with 17 points and six assists while holding the Seahawks’ Donovan Newby to seven points and 2-for-9 shooting. Self suggested after the game that he believed Harris had found a different gear defensively in contrast to his performance during the 2023–24 campaign. Tuesday will be the next chance for him to continue the strong run of form against the Blue Devils’ dynamic guards.

Off-kilter observation

Self said he has never been to Cameron Indoor Stadium, although he once drove by it when he was in town trying to recruit a potential transfer. He added that he would “love to go home and home with Duke,” as KU currently is with North Carolina (the Jayhawks play a return date in Chapel Hill next year), and work around potential Champions Classic scheduling logistics.