The Big Lead

The Champions Classic delivers yet again

By Max Weisman

The College Basketball doubleheader seems to always provide good games
The College Basketball doubleheader seems to always provide good games / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
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The State Farm Champions Classic was Tuesday night and for the 14th straight year Kansas, Michigan State, Duke and Kentucky dazzled fans with high-quality college basketball. The four teams rotate opponents, and this year the matchups were Kansas-Michigan State and Duke-Kentucky. Three of the four teams are ranked in the Top 25, only the fourth time in its 14-year history that not all four teams were ranked.

The No. 1 Jayhawks and unranked Spartans were the opening game and Michigan State was able to keep it close with the No. 1 team in the country for most of the game's 40 minutes. The Spartans trailed by only four with just over five minutes to play. Kansas then began to pull away, eventually winning 77-69 on the back of center Hunter Dickinson's 28-point 12-rebound performance.

With the win, Kansas head coach Bill Self became the winningest head coach in Kansas history. When asked what hitting that milestone means Self joked "It means I'm old," he said before adding "It means I've had a lot of really good players...but Phog Allen's still going to be the all-time best coach at Kansas."

After Kansas and Michigan State left the floor it was time for the main course: Duke-Kentucky. The No. 6 Blue Devils were 2-0, having demolished Maine and Army, while the No. 19 Wildcats had begun the Mark Pope era by beating up on Wright State and Bucknell.

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For most of the game it seemed that Duke's talent was better than Kentucky's. The Blue Devils led for most of the game and at one point held a 10 point lead. Duke's talented freshman, Cooper Flagg, led all scorers with 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but Kentucky's resilience played a part in their eventual 77-72 win.

The Wildcats kept chipping away at Duke's lead in the second half, tying the game at 67 with just under four minutes to play. They took the lead on their next possession on an Otega Oweh layup and after Flagg tied the game with a layup of his own, Oweh iced the game for Kentucky. He hit two free throws with ten seconds left and then following a costly Cooper Flagg turnover, Oweh grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw. He hit two more to put the game away.

Oweh helped secure the first signature win in the Mark Pope era at Kentucky, just three games into his first season at the helm in Lexington. Life doesn't get any easier for Duke, they play No. 9 Arizona next Friday and then No. 1 Kansas the Tuesday after.

It was another successful Champions Classic for early season College Basketball fans. The doubleheader hasn't seen a blowout since 2021.

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