The Duke Blue Devils put their star freshman to the test against the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday, Nov. 6 as part of the Champions Classic.
The Champions Classic always delivers big games to start the college basketball season, and the tip off to the 2018-19 season is no exception. In the nightcap from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils and their trio of superstar freshman will go toe-to-toe with John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats, a team ranked second in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.
Mike Krzyzewski has brought in arguably the most renown freshman class in the history of college basketball to Durham this season. The top-three recruits in the country, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson, will all suit up for Duke and try to carry the prestigious program to another National Championship.
While freshmen-led teams are normally the modus operandi for Calipari and Kentucky, that’s not the case this year. Instead, Stanford graduate transfer Reid Travis will likely be the focal point, at least on the interior, for the Wildcats. What’s more, a pair of sophomores in Quade Green and P.J. Washington are going to play critical roles in determining the strength of Kentucky this season.
However, Tuesday’s matchup could come down to the depth outside of these high-profile players. Duke is severely lacking in terms of overall depth, which could come to bite them in this one should fatigue or foul trouble arise with their young corps. Contrarily, we could see Kentucky freshmen Tyler Herron and Keldon Johnson have a big impact on the game.
TV and Live Stream Info
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 6
Start Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV Info: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
This is a subversion of the norm for Kentucky under Calipari with experience playing a key factor in their success. Having said that, Duke is running with the recipe of riding star freshman, which is a bit of irony as they open up the season against the Wildcats, who are infamous for employing such a strategy. We shall see which methodology wins out in this early-season clash.