KU basketball vs. Duke at Champions Classic: Probable starters, TV & tipoff time
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Champions Classic: Kansas (3-1) faces Duke (4-0) at MSG, 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.
- Projected starters highlight leaders: Bidunga’s boards, Boozer’s scoring.
- Series context: Kansas holds recent edge; last KU–Duke games decided by small margins.
The Kansas Jayhawks, 3-1 on the season, will meet 4-0 Duke in the second game of a Champions Classic doubleheader on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Michigan State and Kentucky will meet in the opener of the one-day twinbill.
Here’s what to know before tipoff...
KU basketball vs. Duke: Game details
When/where: 8 p.m. Central, Tuesday, Madison Square Garden, New York.
TV: ESPN.
Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; ESPN Wichita (92.3 FM).
Probable Starters
Kansas (3-1)
F (40) — Flory Bidunga, 6-10, Soph., 17.0 ppg
F (15) — Bryson Tiller, 6-11 Fr., 9.0
G (3) — Tre White, 6-7, Sr., 12.0 ppg
G (14) — Melvin Council Jr., 6-4, Sr., 7.0
G (7) — Kohl Rosario, 6-6, Fr., 8.8
Duke (4-0)
C (No. 21) — Patrick Ngongba, 6-11, Soph. 11.3 ppg
F (12) — Cameron Boozer, 6-9, Fr., 22.5
F/G (7) — Dame Sarr, 6-8, Fr., 9.8 ppg
F/G (3) — Isaiah Evans, 6-6, 225, Soph, 13.0 ppg
G (1) — Caleb Foster, 6-5, Jr., 9.0 ppg
About No. 24 Kansas (3-1)
Kansas trails Duke 8-7 in the all-time series. KU has won two in a row and six of eight versus the Blue Devils. KU beat Duke 75-72 in last year’s meeting on Nov. 26, 2024 in Las Vegas. … Duke won six of the first seven meetings in the series. … Kansas has won five straight and eight of its last nine Champions Classic games overall. KU is 9-5 in the event, which is more wins than any of the four teams. Duke is 8-6 in the Champions Classic, while Kentucky is 6-8 and Michigan State is 5-9.
Flory Bidunga is the only current Jayhawk to have played in the game a year ago. He had six points and eight rebounds. Returning Duke players: Caleb Foster, who had six points and Malik Brown (eight points, four steals). … The last five KU-Duke games have been decided by a total of 16 points and there has been one double-digit margin of victory in the last 10 clashes. …
Sophomore Bidunga has one double double this season and three in his career. . … Bidunga on Saturday vs. Princeton was the first Kansas player to have 10 makes in 11 or fewer shot attempts since Udoka Azubuike went 10-for-11 on Feb. 16, 2018 against Texas and is the third player in the Bill Self era to accomplish this (Azubuike and Julian Wright). … Bidunga is the first player to have a stat line of 25+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 3+ blocks (vs. Princeton) since Hunter Dickinson against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 28, 2023. …
Senior Tre White has scored 10 or more points in three straight games and 51 times in his career. … Senior Melvin Council Jr. has six or more assists in three straight games. Council has now recorded five or more assists 27 times in his career. . …
Bryson Tiller has made at least one 3 in every game. … Freshman Kohl Rosario tied a season high vs. Princeton with two 3s made. … Rosario has five rebounds in three of his first four games. … Redshirt-sophomore Elmarko Jackson tied a season high after grabbing three rebounds ... Kansas has an assist/turnover ratio of 3.8/1. ...
KU is 3-1 or better for the 20th consecutive season and the 22nd time in Bill Self’s 23rd seasons at KU.
About No. 5 Duke (4-0)
Duke is 4-0 with wins over Texas (75-60) in Charlotte; Western Carolina (95-54) in Durham; at Army (114-59) and vs. Indiana State in Durham. … Jon Scheyer is 93-22 in four years at Duke. … Duke’s 55-point margin of victory over Army was Duke’s largest road win in program history. … Duke is coming off its 18th Final Four appearance, 23rd ACC Tournament title and 21st ACC regular-season championship. …
The Blue Devils and No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg finished 35-4 overall last season — the 17th 30-win season in program history. … Duke returns six players from last year, while also welcoming the country’s top-ranked recruiting class, headlined by preseason ACC Rookie of the Year Cameron Boozer, who leads the Blue Devils in scoring (18.3), rebounding (9.7) and blocked shots (1.3) per game. …
Isaiah Evans, a preseason all-ACC Second Team selection who led last season’s team in 3-point field goal percentage (41.6%), scored a career-high 23 points in Duke’s 75-60 win over Texas on Nov. 4 and scored 17 points in a 114-59 road win at Army on Nov. 11. … Freshman Dame Sarr scored a season-high 19 points (14 in the first half) with three rebounds and three steals at Army. …
Duke had 13 blocked shots and 13 steals versus Indiana State on Friday. ... In Scheyer’s tenure, the Blue Devils are 50-3 (.943) when playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Dating to last season, Duke has won 19 consecutive games at home. ... Duke has scored 100 or more points in two consecutive games. Last time that happened was vs. Evansville (104-40) on Dec. 20, 2017 and Florida State (100-93) on Dec. 30, 2017. ...
Duke has three consecutive games with at least 20 assists since doing so in a three-game stretch against NC State, Florida State and Syracuse during the 2021-22 season. ... The Blue Devils have forced more turnovers than assists allowed in each of their last three games, the first time under Scheyer that a Duke team has accomplished the milestone in three consecutive games.
