No. 6 Duke and No. 19 Kentucky clash in the State Farm Champions Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Tipoff on ESPN is slated for 9 p.m.
Two of the four winningest programs in NCAA history, Duke and Kentucky have met 23 times with the Wildcats leading 12-11. The recent history has favored the Blue Devils, with Duke winning nine of the last 11 meetings against Kentucky since 1979. In the Champions Classic, the Blue Devils have won three of the four matchups — UK won, 74-63, in 2015 in Chicago; while Duke won, 75-68, in Atlanta in 2012, 118-84 in Indianapolis in 2018, and 79-71 in New York in 2021. Duke has won five of its last seven in the Champions Classic, and the Blue Devils’ 8-5 mark is tied with Kansas for the best record among the four teams that annually compete in the event.
About Duke
- Tuesday is the start of a six-game stretch for Duke against four teams that are ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll (No. 19 Kentucky, No. 9 Arizona, No. 1 Kansas and No. 5 Auburn) and were at least a 4-seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament
- During Duke’s two exhibition games against Lincoln (W, 107-56) and Arizona State (W, 103-47) and the two regular-season wins versus Maine (W, 96-62) and Army West Point (W, 100-58), the Blue Devils have turned the three-point arc into a benefit on both ends of the floor.
- Double-doubles from the freshman duo of Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach helped propel No. 7 Duke to a 100-58 home victory over Army West Point on Friday, Nov. 8. Flagg finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals, while Maluach tallied 11 points and 14 boards.
- Duke’s three-point point differential in the four contests is +120, for an average of +30 per game – not factoring in two four-point plays.
About Kentucky
- Wildcats’ head coach Mark Pope, a captain of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team, coached against Duke while at Utah Valley, a 99-69 Blue Devil victory in Durham on Nov. 11, 2017, yet did not face Duke as a player with Kentucky from 1992-96.
- Kentucky guard Koby Brea, a 6-7 transfer from Dayton, was named Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year for the second time in his career and led the nation in 3-point percentage (.498, 100-201) in 2023-24, the highest mark in the NCAA in six seasons. Brea is currently shooting 10-of- 12 (.833) from long distance and is leading the Wildcats with 19.0 points per game.
- Jaxson Robinson, a preseason All-SEC Third Team honoree, is a graduate transfer from BYU, who was the 2023-24 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year after leading Pope’s Cougars in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Robinson was the first bench player in BYU program history to pace the team in scoring and did so while shooting 42.6% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the 3-point arc, all career-bests.
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