The first game of the 2022-23 college basketball season featured top-10 teams in captivating fashion Tuesday night as No. 6 Kansas topped No. 7 Duke 69-64 in the Indianapolis Classic of Champions. The Jayhawks were without coach Bill Self, who was serving the third game of a self-imposed four-game suspension in response to alleged NCAA violations.
But even without Self and some key players from last season’s national title team, the Jayhawks looked like a national contender once again. Kansas freshman Gradey Dick came alive in crunch time for three clutch buckets in the final two and a half minutes, two of which gave the Jayhawks the lead.
His jumper and layup twist with 1:04 left gave the Jayhawks a 65-62 lead, as they rallied from a six-point deficit late in the second half. Dick had been held scoreless through the half until his final burst, but finished with a game-high 14 points.
For most of the second half, the Jayhawks essentially fed junior wing Jalen Wilson, who is the leading scorer after the losses of stars like Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun to the NBA Draft. Wilson finished with a game-high 25 points and helped the Jayhawks weather a storm in the second half.
Duke trailed by 11 points early, but settled in as the game wore on with freshman forward Kyle Filipowski standing out for his second-half aggression. Filipowski led the Blue Devils with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but was just 6-for-18 from the floor. Jeremy Roach added 16 points for Duke.
Both teams plagued by poor shooting
Duke had hit a respectable 34 percent of its 3-point attempts through two games entering Tuesday, but the Blue Devils went cold from beyond the arc against Kansas. Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor were each 1-for-5 from deep, and Filipowski was 1-for-6, while Jaylen Blakes and Jacob Grandison combined to go 0-for-5.
Kansas wasn’t much better, as the Jayhawks hit just 3-of-19 attempts from 3-point range, but KU had more success attacking the rim. Overall, Kansas shot 46.3 percent from the floor compared to Duke’s 35.8 percent. KJ Adams Jr. made 4 of 4 attempts from the field without being a focal point of KU’s offense. His assignment against Duke’s much taller bigs wasn’t enviable, but he handled it well enough to allow the Jayhawks to take advantage in other ways.
Kansas shows its wings
How KU capitalized was through the aggression of its versatile wing corps. Wilson got into the lane against anyone guarding him and Dick managed to get loose at key times. Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar also came up big in the first half, especially early on when he often found himself guarded by the 7-foot Filipowski. McCullar scored eight of his 12 points in the first half. He had six early as the Jayhawks opened up a 17-6 lead in less than seven minutes.
The size and versatility of the Wilson-Dick-McCullar trio stood out for Kansas. Although only three games into his career, Dick looks capable of playing a role similar to the role Christian Braun played for the Jayhawks on their way to a national title last season. While replacing Ochai Agbaji will be a bit more difficult, it’s clear that KU has the perimeter weapons needed to once again be a matchup nightmare.
Key players missing in action
Neither team had their full roster available. One of Duke’s five-star freshmen, versatile wing Dariq Whitehead, has yet to make his debut as he recovers from offseason foot surgery. The 6-6 wing would have given Duke another versatile defender to deploy against Wilson and Dick.
Kansas was also without two players. Freshman guard MJ Rice (illness) and sophomore guard Zach Clemence (injury) were unavailable. Rice is a McDonald’s All-American who played a big role off the bench last week, and Clemence is a sophomore fighting for frontcourt minutes.