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Duke Basketball: 3 keys to beat Kansas in 2019 Champions Classic

By Matthew Travis

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils huddle during the first half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils huddle during the first half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: The Duke Blue Devils bench celebrates their teams lead against the North Dakota State Bison in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: The Duke Blue Devils bench celebrates their teams lead against the North Dakota State Bison in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Duke Basketball kicks off their 2019-20 season in the Champions Classic against the third-ranked ranked Kansas Jayhawks, but how can they beat them?

Duke Basketball and Kansas faced off in one of the best games in recent memory during the 2018 Elite Eight, a game Kansas went onto win in overtime. Now, for the first time since that matchup that sent the Jayhawks to the Final Four, Duke will get their chance at revenge in the annual Champions Classic.

In the two years since that game a lot has happened, Zion Williamson happened, Devon Dotson happened and Kansas also faced some violations. Since it has been two years since that matchup, both Kansas and Duke are completely different teams.

Duke players that got minutes against Kansas in the Elite Eight:

Not one of the five starters from that game is in Durham anymore and only DeLaurier and O’Connell are on Duke’s roster headed into this season. On the Kansas side of things, it’s a bit different.

Kansas players that got minutes against Duke in the Elite Eight:

Of those five starters from that game, only Udoka Azubuike is still on the team headed into the new season, but in addition to Azubuike, both De Sousa and Garrett are on the team as well.

That being said, Coach K and some of the current Duke players know a bit about how this Kansas team plays, but Kansas knows next to nothing about this Duke team seeing the Blue Devils put a new five on the court every season.

So with all that being said, what are the three keys to Duke beating Kansas and opening up their season with a win against a top-three team?

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