KU Jayhawks, Duke have extensive basketball history. Do you remember these games?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke holds an 8-7 lead in the all-time series vs. Kansas, series began 1985.
- Thirteen of 15 KU-Duke meetings occurred on neutral sites.
- Kansas has won six of eight recent games vs Duke, including 2018 (Final Four) and 2024.
Kansas men’s basketball, which has won five of the last six and six of eight games against Duke, will try to tie the all-time series versus the Blue Devils on Tuesday night in New York.
The Jayhawks, 2-0 against fourth-year Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer after going 5-8 versus Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski in a series that started in 1985, will tangle with the Blue Devils in a Champions Classic contest set for 8 p.m. Central at Madison Square Garden.
Michigan State will play Kentucky in the first game, starting at 5:30 p.m. Central.
Duke leads the all-time series versus KU 8-7.
Krzyzewski went 2-3 versus Bill Self-led Jayhawk teams and 3-1 against squads coached by both Roy Williams and Larry Brown. Scheyer was on Coach K’s staff as an assistant for four of the games vs. Kansas.
In all, 13 of the 15 meetings between the teams have been contested on neutral floors.
KU went 3-3 versus Coach K in the NCAA Tournament (1-2 in the Final Four), 2-1 in the Champions Classic and 0-1 at both Allen Fieldhouse and Cameron Indoor Stadium. KU is 1-0 vs. Scheyer in the Champions Classic and 3-1 against the Blue Devils overall in the early season one-day event.
The Jayhawks won the last meeting 75-72 a year ago in Las Vegas.
Here’s a look at the games between KU and Blue Devils, starting with NCAA tournament contests.
KU basketball vs. Duke (Coach K era)
April 1, 1991: No. 6 Duke 72, No. 12 Kansas 65, NCAA title game in Indianapolis: This marked the first of Krzyzewski’s five NCAA titles. Duke’s Christian Laettner, MVP of the Final Four, went 12-of-12 from the free throw line and scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, Bill McCaffrey scored 16 points and Bobby Hurley had 12 points and nine assists while playing all 40 minutes. Grant Hill contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
KU’s Mark Randall scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Terry Brown and Adonis Jordan had 16 and 11 points respectively.
Duke went on to win the title the following season as well, defeating Michigan’s Fab Five in the title game.
April 2, 1988: Kansas 66, No. 5 Duke 59, NCAA Final Four semifinal in Kansas City: KU’s Danny Manning and Milt Newton scored 25 and 20 points respectively. Danny Ferry scored 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.
KU, which opened the game on a 24-6 run and led by 11 at halftime, went on to win the NCAA title in Manning’s senior year and Brown’s fifth and final season as Jayhawks coach. The Jayhawks defeated Oklahoma 83-79 in the championship game.
Chris Piper scored 10 points for KU in a game in which just five Jayhawks scored. Manning had 10 rebounds, while Kevin Pritchard had seven rebounds, five assists and six points. Kevin Strickland had 10 points for Duke.
March 29, 1986: No. 1 Duke 71, No. 2 Kansas 67, NCAA Final Four semifinal in Dallas: Duke’s Johnny Dawkins scored 24 points. KU’s Ron Kellogg had 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Ferry scored eight points, while ESPN broadcast legend Jay Bilas had seven points. Dave Henderson scored 13 points and Mark Alarie 12 for Duke.
Calvin Thompson and Archie Marshall scored 13 points apiece, while point guard Cedric Hunter had eight rebounds, five points and three assists for KU.
Duke hit 21 of 30 free throws to KU’s 9 of 12.
KU sophomore Manning scored four points on 2-of-9 shooting before fouling out in the battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The Jayhawks finished that season 35-4 with two losses coming to Duke.
March 25, 2018: No. 4 Kansas 85, No. 9 Duke 81, OT, NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game in Omaha, Nebraska: KU’s trip to the 2018 Final Four was assured when Grayson Allen’s last-second shot rolled around the rim and barely missed at the buzzer of regulation, forcing OT. Svi Mykhailiuk’s 22-foot 3-pointer had tied the game at 0:25.9.
Malik Newman led the way with 32 points on 8-of-19 shooting (5-of-12 3s) with seven rebounds and three steals.
Newman — the most outstanding player of the Midwest Regional — scored 13 points in overtime. His 3 from the corner gave KU an 81-78 lead with 1:47 left. He also hit four free throws down the stretch of OT.
Guards Lagerald Vick (14 points on 6-of-16 shooting), Mykhailiuk (11) and Devonté Graham (11) each scored in double figures. Graham had six rebounds and six assists in 45 minutes. Mykhailiuk had 10 boards and five assists and Udoka Azubuike eight boards. For Duke, Trevon Duval had 20 points, Gary Trent 17, Marvin Bagley 16.
March 27, 2003: No. 6 Kansas 69, No. 7 Duke 65, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California: KU downed Duke during a season in which the Jayhawks marched all the way to the NCAA title game, falling to Syracuse in Williams’ final game as KU coach.
KU’s Nick Collison scored a career high 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting and grabbed 19 rebounds. He added four assists and had three blocked shots. Keith Langford scored 13 points with eight rebounds. Kirk Hinrich scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting in 33 minutes.
Duke’s Dahntay Jones scored 23 points, but guard J.J. Redick was held to five points on 2-of-16 shooting. He was 1-of-11 from 3, his teammates 9-of-15. KU went 1-of-12 from 3.
March 19, 2000: No. 1 Duke 69, Kansas 64, NCAA Tournament second round in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Shane Battier scored a game-high 21 points and blocked a career-best eight shots while Carlos Boozer scored 15 points with 13 rebounds.
Duke won despite going 2 of 17 from 3 and committing 23 turnovers. KU had 10 shots blocked by the Blue Devils. KU countered by making 6-of-17 3s and just 36.5% of its 2-point tries (19-of-52).
The Jayhawks led early, but the game was knotted at halftime, 35-35. Boozer made a crucial steal that eventually led to two Chris Carrawell free throws to give Duke a 67-64 lead with 24.7 seconds left. Jason Williams closed the scoring with two free throws. Hinrich led the Jayhawks with 12 points. He was the only Jayhawk in double figures.
Nov. 15, 2016: No. 7 Kansas 77, No. 1 Duke 75, Champions Classic in New York: Frank Mason hit a 12-foot shot just in front of the free throw line with 1.3 seconds left to break a 75-75 tie and give the No. 7-rated Jayhawks a victory over the top-ranked team in the country.
“The play was to isolate me, and my teammates did a good job of spacing the floor,” Mason said after the game. “It felt good when it left my hand.”
“He’s made a lot of big plays for us,” Bill Self said of Mason. “I don’t know if he’s made any game winners, but he’s made plays to put us in overtime. Yeah, he’s a stud.”
“It was well-guarded,” Duke coach Krzyzewski said. “He just made a big-time play.”
The Blue Devils tied the game on a 3-pointer by Frank Jackson with 15 seconds left. KU called timeout with 8.2 seconds remaining to set up the game-winning shot.
Mason finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five assists. Duke’s Allen scored 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting (1-of-7 from 3).
Josh Jackson scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Graham 13 points for KU. Luke Kennard scored 22 points, Amile Jefferson 12. Duke trailed by 12 points (62-50) with eight minutes left. The Jayhawks won despite hitting just 2 of 17 3s.
Nov. 6, 2019: No. 4 Duke 68, No. 3 Kansas 66, Champions Classic in New York: Devon Dotson led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He had six of KU’s 26 turnovers. KU had 18 turnovers the first half. Duke had 16 turnovers.
Tre Jones led Duke with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Cassius Stanley had 13 points, 11 in the second half.
Trailing 61-59 with 2:29 left, Stanley scored a driving layup and converted an ensuing free throw. Dotson missed a layup on the other end and Jones then hit a jumper.
Marcus Garrett put the Jayhawks back within one. After a miss by the Blue Devils, Kansas turned the ball over with 37 seconds left. Jones then converted two free throws with 26.2 seconds left. KU didn’t score until a last-second 3 by Dotson. Both teams struggled at the line: Kansas going 16-for-26, Duke 14-for-23.
“We’re disappointed in the outcome. That was a game that either team could have won multiple times ...” Self said. “It’s a learning experience.”
Nov. 23, 2011: No. 6 Duke 68, No. 14 Kansas 61, Maui Invitational final in Lahaina, Hawaii: The Blue Devils improved their all-time record in Maui to 15-0 by overcoming a seven-point second-half deficit in the tourney finale.
KU led a game that had 16 lead changes and 12 ties by one point with 1:10 left.
Duke’s Tyler Thornton, who had made just two 3-pointers all season, swished two 3s in the final 1:10. His first 3 erased a 61-60 deficit. He buried another with 20 seconds left.
Tyshawn Taylor led KU with 17 points, but also had 11 turnovers, eight in the second half. Thomas Robinson added 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Jeff Withey contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly scored 17 points.
“We came to Kansas for games like this,” Robinson said. “It’s too bad we got the short end of the stick, but I feel that my team got better.”
Nov. 12, 2013: No. 5 Kansas 94, No. 4 Duke 83, Champions Classic in Chicago: Perry Ellis scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds and Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and eight boards.
Wayne Selden contributed 15 points and Mason had 15 points courtesy of 11-of-12 free-throw shooting.
KU led by two points with just over a minute to play. Wiggins hit a step-back jumper and after an Ellis steal, Wiggins dunked to up the Jayhawks’ lead to six. Wiggins guarded Duke’s Jabari Parker (27 points on 9-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds) in the second half after Parker burned KU for 19 first-half points.
Dec. 1, 1985: No. 3 Duke 92, No. 5 Kansas 86, Preseason NIT title game in New York: Manning had 24 points and eight rebounds, while Thompson and Kellogg scored 22 and 20. Duke’s Henderson led the way with 30 points (16 the second half) while Alarie and Dawkins had 21 and 20. Duke hit 22 of 25 free throws to KU’s 6 of 9.
Thompson, who hit 10 of 12 shots, had six assists for KU. Duke shot 57% the second half. Greg Dreiling, the Jayhawks’ 7-1 center, fouled out late in the second half and scored eight points. Both Duke and Kansas would later advance to the Final Four.
Feb. 20, 1988: No. 6 Duke 74, Kansas 70, OT in Allen Fieldhouse: The Jayhawks led 23-8, but Duke cut the deficit to one point by halftime. The Jayhawks led by six with three minutes left.
Manning scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Quin Snyder and Ferry had 21 and 20 points for Duke. Newton contributed 15 points for KU.
Manning scored five points in the first 45 seconds of overtime to put Kansas on top 65-60. Manning, who did not score again, never took a shot from the 4:15 mark until he fouled out with 16 seconds left, Duke up 72-68.
At the 52-second mark, Strickland’s stickback gave Duke a 69-68 lead. Kansas never led or tied again. Snyder, who had half the Blue Devils’ 14 points in the OT, made 3 of 4 free throws and reserve center John Smith 2 of 2 down the stretch to clinch it.
“That’s a disappointment,” coach Larry Brown said after the game. “We had our chances. The effort was great, but we don’t have a lot to be thankful for.”
Kansas went on to win the NCAA championship that season, defeating Duke in the Final Four semifinals.
Feb. 18, 1989: No. 11 Duke 102, Kansas 77 in Durham, North Carolina: The Jayhawks dropped their seventh straight game during Williams’ first season as KU coach.
Ferry, who had his jersey number retired that day, scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on a snowy day. Duke, which had five players score in double figures, rolled to an 11-2 start and led by 19 at halftime. Duke shot 65% overall and never let KU get closer than 17 points in the second half.
Robert Brickey had 16 points, Alaa Abdelnaby 14, and Phil Henderson and John Smith each scored 10 for Duke. Newton scored 18 and Freeman West 16 for the Jayhawks, who fell to 16-10.
KU basketball vs. Duke (Jon Scheyer era)
Nov. 15, 2022: No. 6 KU 69, No. 7 Duke 64 in Champions Classic in Indianapolis:. Jalen Wilson scored 25 points and freshman Gradey Dick scored seven crucial points late to lift the Jayhawks to victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks finished the game on a 15-5 run over the final 4:37. Wilson finished with 11 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season.
Trailing 59-54 with 4:37 to play, Wilson hit a turnaround jumper to cut it to three.
The Duke lead was then cut to one at the 2:41 mark when Kevin McCullar scored on a putback. Kansas then took its first lead since the 9:12 mark when Dick hit the only 3-pointer of the half for Kansas to make it 61-59. Duke answered with a 3 of its own to retake the lead with 2:02 to play.
Dick scored again off an alley-oop from Dajuan Harris, then scored again after an offensive foul on Duke to increase the lead to three at 65-62 with 1:04 left.
After a defensive stop, KJ Adams scored on a layup to make it 67-62 and ice the game for the Jayhawks. Harris posted a career-high 10 assists as the first Jayhawk with double-digit assists in a game since Dotson’s 11 on Feb. 8, 2020, at TCU.
Duke was led by Kyle Filipowski, who scored a season-high 17 points and had 14 rebounds. Jeremy Roach had 16 points as new coach Scheyer lost for the first time.
“Before the game, we said that whoever handles the adversity better wins and I thought they did that late,” Scheyer said.
Norm Roberts served as a fill-in coach as Self served his third game of a self-imposed suspension regarding the FBI’s investigation into college hoops.
Nov. 26, 2024, No. 1 KU 75, No 11 Duke 72 in Vegas Showdown, Las Vegas: Cooper Flagg, a freshman forward who wound up the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, scored 13 points in 38 minutes for the Blue Devils.
KU’s Harris scored 14 points as No. 1-ranked Kansas withstood the loss of Hunter Dickinson, who was called for a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected for kicking the Blue Devils’ Maliq Brown in the head midway through the second half.
Zeke Mayo added 12 points and Dickinson and AJ Storr each scored 11 for KU.
Tyrese Proctor led Duke with 15 points, Flagg scored 13, Kon Knueppel had 11 and Sion James finished with 10.
Mayo put Kansas ahead for good when he made a jumper with 1:57 left for a 73-71 lead. Flagg hit a free throw for Duke and Rylan Griffen answered with two foul shots with 2 seconds left.
“That was fun to be a part of that one,” Self said.
Adams guarded Flagg much of the game.
“He’s a great player, he’s a good prospect that’s probably going to be out of here next year,” Adams said. “I think (we were) just keeping the ball out of his hands and making it a challenge for him to score.”
Self reflected on last year’s game after the Jayhawks’ win over Princeton on Saturday: “Last year was a good memory. Last year we played well. That was a heck of a win, especially with Hunter not finishing the game and Flory (Bidunga, six points, eight rebounds, 16 minutes) kind of having a coming out party. That was good and, KJ, the way he played against Cooper, and Juan was the best guard in the game. I mean, there were a lot of good things that happened last year in that particular game.”
“We’ve also had some bad memories with them too. But the best memory, obviously, was in 2018, that was the biggest game, I think, that we played Duke since I’ve been here.”
