The highlight of the Champions Classic was the matchup between (1) Duke and (7) Kansas, and both teams played a thriller in the Garden.
Senior Frank Mason III has been out of his mind to start the year. In Kansas’ opening night loss to Indiana, Mason poured in 30 points. His hot hand continued, and he finished with 21 in against the Dukies. Routinely, Mason beat his man off the dribble and finished over the Blue Devils’ bigger defenders.
Duke was without their star freshmen Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, but they still almost eeked out a win against a formidable Jayhawks team. Luke Kennard was the Blue Devils’ best player Tuesday night, dropping 22 while Player of the Year candidate Grayson Allen struggled.
After a 25-point outburst against Grand Canyon, Allen had just 12 points on 4/15 shooting. The rest of the team was decent, and Duke managed to shoot 49 percent as a team. Kansas’ clip sat at 51 percent despite missing 15 threes.
With 15.5 seconds left, Duke freshman Frank Jackson tied the game at 75 all, giving Kansas the final possession.
Mason, who had been aggressive all night, took Matt Jones off the bounce and buried a one-dribble pull-up from the left elbow with less than two seconds left.
Freshman Josh Jackson had 15 in 18 minutes, and Devonte’ Graham had 13 to aid Mason’s effort.
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