Duke Basketball: 3 keys to beat Kentucky in 2021-22 Champions Classic

1. Use your versatility and experience

It’s really a matter of “Pick your poison” when it comes to the Duke basketball rotation in this one. They can bully you inside with the likes of Mark Williams, Paolo Banchero, or Theo John. Or, they can put Banchero on the perimeter and Williams/John on the interior and work the high-low game until Kentucky finds a way to stop it.

The main thing Duke has to realize in this one: they have a huge depth and experience advantage over Kentucky across the board. Yes, Kentucky has Oscar Tshiebwe but if they can go at him early and get him in foul trouble, things could get interesting in a hurry on Tuesday night.

Kentucky is very guard-heavy with TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler, and Kellan Grady leading the way but outside of Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, they’re very thin in the frontcourt department.

On the Blue Devils side, there’s Wendell Moore Jr., Joey Baker, A.J. Griffin, Bates Jones, and Trevor Keels who all have the ability to defend inside and out when they’re on the floor.

It’s rare that athleticism and versatility are in favor of the Blue Devils but as things clearly shift and John Scheyer begins to take over, look for a different brand of basketball to begin taking hold.