Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 79-71 loss to Duke
Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 79-71 loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the men’s NCAA basketball State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden:
1. Duke freshmen dominate. Kentucky made ardent recruiting pushes for Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels, but lost out on each to Mike Krzyzewski.
On Tuesday night, John Calipari and the Wildcats got an emphatic look at what they missed.
A shooting guard built like a linebacker, the 6-foot-4, 221-pound Keels continually overpowered slighter Kentucky guards to score near the basket. The Clinton, Md., product finished with a game-high 25 points, 16 in the second half.
One of the most-hyped players entering college basketball in 2021-22, the 6-10, 250-pound Banchero lived up to every bit of his hype. A Seattle product, Banchero hit seven of 11 shots, eight of nine foul shots and finished with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Coach K’s push into the top end of the one-and-done market bit Kentucky one final time.
2. A rough debut for UK’s prize frosh. After starring in UK’s exhibition season, Kentucky guard TyTy Washington had a rough go in his first official college game.
The 6-3, 197-pound freshman from Phoenix missed 11 of his 14 shot attempts and finished with nine points and three assists.
Kentucky will obviously need far better from Washington to fulfill its promise — and will get it.
3. Transfers lead the Cats. In their first regular-season games as Kentucky Wildcats, Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler both had memorable performances.
An import from West Virginia, the 6-9, 255-pound Tshiebwe left every bit of energy on the Madison Square Garden court. Tshiebwe went for 17 points and 19 rebounds, 12 of them offensive.
Meanwhile, Wheeler, who came to UK from Georgia, gave the Cats the kind of dynamic offensive creator they did not have a season ago.
The 5-9, 180-pound junior also produced a double-double, with 16 points and 10 assists.
If there was a knock on Wheeler’s performance, he turned the ball over seven times, several when he perhaps “tried to do too much.”
4. Coach K. vs. the Cats. Barring another meeting in March Madness, retiring Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski will finish his iconic coaching career with a 7-2 record against Kentucky.
Of coaches who rank in the top seven of all-time men’s basketball coaching victories, only former North Carolina head man Dean Smith (13-3 for 81.3) has a better winning percentage head-to-head against UK than Coach K (77.8).
5. Champions Classic all-time results. Through 11 seasons, the Champions Classic “standings” now stand: Duke 7-4, Kansas 6-5, Kentucky 5-6 and Michigan State 4-7.
With Kansas winning and Kentucky losing Tuesday night, the all-time men’s college hoops wins race now stands: 1. Kentucky 2,327; 2. Kansas 2,324.
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 12:02 AM.
