The lights inside Madison Square Garden shone brighter than ever. In front of nineteen thousand fans, the Duke Blue Devils showed up ready. The No. 5 team snapped No. 24 Kansas’ five-game win streak in the 15th iteration of the Champions Classic with a commanding 78–66 win. Led by Cameron Boozer’s 18 points, Duke weathered the storm. Still, the win wasn’t easy and pretty, thanks to Bill Self and Co. And post-game, HC Jon Scheyer made sure to give credit where due. 

When asked about finding a way to win, he said, “Yeah, I was really proud and look, I mean five games in you gotta- not every win is gonna be pretty.” He added in his interview with The Field of 68, “A credit to Kansas as a part of who they are as a program and, you know, ton of respect for Coach Self… they put us in some situations we haven’t seen so far and for us, we talk about how you respond all the time. And in that, I thought we showed some great response, some great character. Hopefully it gets prettier as it goes, but really, I don’t care as long as we find a way to win and do the things we talked about.”

And he’s right. The spotlight wasn’t only on Duke’s dominance. It was also on a resilient Kansas roster. Well, that’s the push-and-pull of playing against one of the best coaches in the NCAA-Bill Self. In 2024-25, he completed his 22nd season at KU as the school’s winningest coach, eclipsing 800 career wins across 32 seasons.

Entering his 23rd year, Self continues to apply decades of experience, and Kansas reflects that identity. They weren’t expected to beat Duke on Tuesday-and understandably so. The Jayhawks’ offense had looked shaky in their last two games without Peterson. And against Duke, once again without Darryn Peterson, Kansas was facing an elite defensive unit.

Still, the Jayhawks fought. As is the storyline in most Duke–Kansas clashes, Tuesday night delivered another tense battle. Clinging to a 67–64 lead with under five minutes remaining, Scheyer opted for a zone defense. The adjustment worked right away. Flory Bidunga finally missed a shot, and Isaiah Evans hit a tough, last-second three-pointer that gave Duke the cushion it needed.

“The thing that our team did-they had great execution. Cayden’s pass was on time, on target. Pat set a great screen to get him open. And then, obviously, when Isaiah raises up to shoot, you feel like it’s got a chance to go in,” Scheyer said in the postgame conference. More Kansas misses wrapped up the game. And, Boozer’s late layup added a cherry on top of the cake. And that’s how Duke won. But even in the loss, Kansas exposed its opponents’ weaknesses.

At the first media timeout, Kansas already led 14–10. Both teams pushed the pace, but Kansas did far more early damage in transition. Six of their first 12 points came on fast breaks. They repeatedly used their athleticism to get easy buckets at the rim. Meanwhile, Duke struggled inside the paint. Despite having a clear size advantage, they shot just 2-for-6 on layups. The trend finally flipped near the midpoint of the half, but the what-ifs were clear by then. And, that’s not it.

Kansas also disrupted Duke’s flow by denying passing lanes and cutting off easy paths to the basket. That forced the Blue Devils into late-clock threes or errant passes. Notably, Duke shot only 26.9% from deep. They were outscored in the paint 40–38 and in fast-break points 13–9. They were also unreliable at the free-throw line, shooting just 17-for-26 (65%), while Kansas shot 71%. So when Scheyer said, “I think the room for us to grow is as big as any team in the country,” it made perfect sense. 

But what worked for Duke?

With the game’s blistering pace, Scheyer distributed first-half minutes widely. Although he typically starts Foster, Evans, Boozer, and Ngongba, this time, Darren Harris, Cayden Boozer, Maliq Brown, and Khamenia all played at least five minutes.

The four combined for nine points across 20 minutes, but their impact went beyond the box score. Their energy and disruption changed the game’s flow and allowed Duke to rally from the early deficit. All four posted a plus/minus of zero or better, with Cayden Boozer leading the group at +11.

So, the weaknesses are clear as Duke prepares for its next game against NIA, which should be an easier matchup. The real test, though, comes on November 27 against Arkansas. The question now is simple: Will Duke implement the lessons Kansas forced them to learn?