State Farm Classic Headlines A Great Hoops Day

Duke vs. Kentucky, 9:00 ET

If you're a hoops fan, today is a great day for you. Why? In the professional ranks, the NBA has the NBA Cup Group Play starting which means we should actually get players caring about the games. We will see just how true that is. However, in the college ranks, where they normally do care about games, we have the State Farm Champions Classic taking place as well which puts some of the top teams in the country against each other early in the season. In this one, we get Duke taking on Kentucky. 

Yes, I'm writing about Duke once again. I know it is probably annoying, but we are only looking at their third game of the season, and I may write about them every time they play, so buckle in. This team is exciting and has some of the best players in the country. You can say that virtually every year about Duke, but there is something special about the combo of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. This will be their first true test though. In their first two games, they played Maine and Army. They've won both games by over 30 points. This isn't much of a surprise as both of their opponents were not even close to their level of competition. Duke now has to find a way to take on a Wildcats team with a ton of talent. Flagg will be looked at in this one with a lot of scrutiny because he will need to be their leader. Knueppel should be able to score the same way he has so far, but this is a road game - or at least not a home game - which can throw even great shooters off a bit. I'm interested to see how Kentucky attacks the star freshmen. 

Nov 9, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks with forward Brandon Garrison (10) during the second half against the Bucknell Bison at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky also started the year with two wins. Like Duke's wins, I can't really say they are overly impressive.  They faced Wright State and Bucknell in their first two games, and also won both of them by at least 28 points. What is encouraging for Kentucky is that they've put 100 or more points on the board in both of their games. Their offense seems to be clicking under their new head coach. I see a bit of an edge for the Wildcats in this game at the center position. Duke has a 7'2" Center, Khaman Maluach, but he isn't anything I consider special. I think that their Senior center, Amari Williams, will grab another double-double here. Williams didn't have to work overly hard against either of the first two opponents, but he was able to grab 12 points and 13 boards against Wright State, and 13 points and 14 rebounds against Bucknell. He only played 20 minutes in both games. I'm interested to see how the Kentucky backcourt matches up against Duke's. Just like Duke, this will be Kentucky's first true test of the season. 

There are few times that I would say a college basketball game is worth watching this early in the season. With most of the matchups being pretty crappy, it can be hard to watch good, quality basketball. That's what we should get tonight. I think this game probably comes down to the last few possessions but I think that Duke will ultimately have the upper hand at closing it out. They are both offensively gifted, but I also think them scoring 160+ points is hard to believe in the first road game of their season. I'll take under 160.5 as my official play. 

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