With a 111-77 season-opening victory squarely in the rearview mirror, the Blue Devils do not have the benefit of any more tune-up games.
No. 4 Duke will battle No. 5 Kansas Tuesday at 10 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago in a matchup that features two of the nation's top freshmen. The Jayhawks' Andrew Wiggins and the Blue Devils' Jabari Parker—who were ranked as the top two players in their recruiting class—will square off in both teams' second contest of the season.
Despite facing a preseason first team All-American, it is not Wiggins that Duke is worried about.
"The type of athlete that they have on the floor this year is probably a notch above anything that they've had," Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel said. "They have a lot of post depth and are an outstanding offensive rebounding team."
With an undersized lineup, the Blue Devils (1-0) sought to utilize their athleticism and length on the wings to quicken the pace against Davidson. Duke accomplished this when it posted 111 points against the Wildcats Friday night, but was punished down low by a Davidson team without a player taller than 6-foot-7 in its starting lineup.
Despite starting 6-foot-8 Parker and Rodney Hood and 6-foot-9 Amile Jefferson, the Blue Devils were outrebounded 31-27 by the Wildcats. Although Parker and Wiggins will be billed as the game's featured matchup, Wiggins will likely be guarded by Hood, and the game could come down to the Blue Devils' ability to play inside.
"We have to rebound. We have to have physical block outs and pursue rebounds," Capel said. "That's the one thing we probably did not do as well in our opener against Davidson and really in the exhibition games. Tomorrow we'll be tested greatly by that, because that's a great strength of Kansas."
The Jayhawks (1-0) boast one of the nation's top frontcourts, headlined by sophomore Perry Ellis and graduate student Tarik Black, who played his first three years of eligibility at Memphis and chose to attend Kansas instead of Duke last summer.
But the man Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he will be watching out for is 7-foot center Joel Embiid. The freshman from Cameroon came off the bench in Kansas' season-opening 80-63 win against Louisiana Monroe and scored nine points, attempting 10 free throws in just 11 minutes of action.
"A lot of people feel that their big kid who comes off the bench is the top prospect in the country for the pros," Krzyzewski said after his team's season-opening win. "We're going to play against a lot of guys who are NBA talent."
To compete with Kansas' sizable front line, the Blue Devils will have to keep their forwards out of foul trouble early. Sophomore Amile Jefferson played just four minutes in the first half against Davidson before picking up his second foul and forcing Duke to go with a smaller lineup.
Guards Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon thrived in the Blue Devils' new up-tempo offensive style, each topping 20 points on the evening. But Duke's guards will have to put up with a speedy Kansas backcourt headlined by Wayne Selden, Jr. and point guard Naadir Tharpe, who will make his season debut after serving a one-game suspension.
"I think they're actually one of the best transition teams I've seen in a really long time," Capel said.
Duke will enter Tuesday night's contest as the only school that has yet to lose a game in the Champions Classic. The third installment of the series—which recently had its contract extend through the 2016-17 season—will represent another key matchup for the Blue Devils.
Two season ago, Duke faced Michigan State in the first Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden, where Krzyzewski passed Bob Knight by earning the 903rd win of his career. Last season, the Blue Devils squared off with Kentucky in Atlanta in a matchup of top-five teams that featured Duke's experience against the Wildcats' vaunted freshman class, headlined by Nerlens Noel.
Although March is still months away, Tuesday's matchup between the Blue Devils and Jayhawks takes on a different energy, Capel said.
"I'm sure tomorrow will feel probably a lot like a Final Four," Capel said. "There is so much attention on both of these teams."
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