Kansas Basketball: How to win the Battle of the Bluebloods

It’s an Elite Eight matchup between two of the best programs in college basketball, and Kansas needs three things to beat Duke and reach the Final Four.

Kansas basketball has 2,247 all-time victories. That’s the second most ever.

Duke has 2,144 all-time wins, good for fourth.

Kansas has three National Championships. That’s seventh all-time.

Duke has five titles, good for fourth.

The Jayhawks and Blue Devils are two of the elite college basketball programs in the nation, with two elite coaches.

And they’ll be facing each other in a battle of blueblood programs for a spot in the Final Four.

So how does Kansas win their Elite Eight matchup against on of the best basketball schools?

Sharpshooting

This one may sound cliche, but it’s especially true against Duke.

Kansas shoots better than 40% from three-point range, and they’ve been even better in the Big Dance.

The Jayhawks are playing at an elite level offensively right now, and they have to keep that up against the Blue Devils.

Duke plays a zone defense primarily, and it’s been effective for them as they’ve run through the NCAA Tournament. Their three opponents so far have all been held below 67 points, which is better than the 69 points they averaged defensively for the season.

But there are two ways to beat a zone: pass the ball and hit open shots. A zone defense makes it difficult to operate in the paint offensively, but with good ball movemen,t a team can find good open shots from midrange and from three.

Kansas has proven they can hit those type of shots all season, and they’re hitting even more of them in the tournament.

They’ll have to keep it up, though, if they want to derail Duke.