Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from loss to Kentucky in 2024 Champions Classic

The Duke Blue Devils fell to the Kentucky Wildcats 77-72 in the 2024 Champions Classic in a battle that came down to the last few possessions. It's a learning experience for a Duke Blue Devils team that saw it's first shooting slump as a team from behind the arc. They made just four 3-pointers as a team in their loss to the Wildcats.

The first half was an intriguing one for the Duke Blue Devils in the Champions Classic. It seemed like they needed some energy as Kentucky led 24-21. An And-1 from Kentucky's Amari Williams followed by some chirping triggered a 21-8 run by the Blue Devils. Duke built a 42-32 lead with 2:40 left in the first half and led 46-37 at halftime.

Cooper Flagg battled through foul trouble in the first half, but it didn't stop him from surging offensively. He had 12 points and four rebounds while fellow freshman Kon Knueppel had 12 points, three rebounds and two steals at the break.

It looked like the Blue Devils had a few things figured out in the first half, forcing seven turnovers against the Wildcats and overcoming a 7-of-16 (43 percent) shooting performance from 3-point land. The Blue Devils held things down in the paint as a team, holding the Wildcats to 28.6 percent shooting inside the arc.

Kentucky seemingly took over the momentum with 13 minutes left in the game. They outscored the Blue Devils 27-16 across the final 12:48 to take home the 77-72 victory in the end.

Flagg and the Blue Devils fought valiantly. A layup from Flagg tied things up at 72-all with 1:14 remaining in the game, but the Blue Devils didn't make another field goal after that. A late missed box out from Flagg showed there are still some early chinks in the armor to work through as well.

Take a look at the takeaways from the loss for the Blue Devils.