Luke DeCock: Kansas' defense poses new questions for Duke, which digs deep for answers

Luke DeCock, The News & Observer on Nov 18, 2025

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NEW YORK — There were Duke players who had literally never seen anything like this. The big, strong, tough, swarming defense Kansas plays, annually, regardless of changing names and faces, was not only a significant step up in competition five games into some very young careers, it was an awakening.

For Cameron and Cayden Boozer, for Dame Sarr and Nik Khamenia, their first trip to Madison Square Garden with the Blue Devils was a portal into a new world, where the ease with which Duke had dispatched its first four opponents — even Texas — seemed far away.

Even their more veteran teammates didn’t have to carry the load in the past the way they did Tuesday night, thrown into the maw with no escape on the bench. And still. Another test faced. Another test passed.

Duke’s 78-66 win over Kansas in the Champions Classic demanded of Duke some answers to questions the Blue Devils had not yet faced, especially on offense where the easy baskets and open shots Duke had become accustomed to were nowhere in evidence.

For the first time, the Blue Devils had to grind out a win, nursing a single-digit second-half lead to the finish, against the best team they have faced yet. Cameron had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Duke, while Isaiah Evans added 16.

When Kansas big man Flory Bidunga picked up his second foul with 6:40 to go in the first half, the Blue Devils were down five and grinding their gears on offense, finding the going all but impassable. Duke hadn’t seen anything like Kansas’ defense, especially in the post, where the Jayhawks extracted a toll on every drive the Blue Devils had become accustomed to finishing in their games to date.

Then Patrick Ngongba II drew a second on Bidunga and suddenly the path to the rim was unobstructed. The Blue Devils finished the first half on a 21-7 run capped by an Evans bomb that would have counted for 3 if the Knicks were playing instead.

Bidunga announced his presence with authority to start the second half, spinning off Ngongba for a dunk out of nothing, but Duke stretched its eight-point halftime lead to 10 before Kansas made a push of its own, staying within single digits for much of the second half, trying to close the gap, but never closer than three.

The Blue Devils found offense from unexpected places as the Jayhawks tested them: A pair of Cayden Boozer drives and Ngongba’s second high-low assist. The first was to Cameron Boozer on the opening possession, a set play for an easy slam. The second was a back-door feed to Maliq Brown for a dunk when Duke desperately needed it. An Evans corner 3-pointer as the shot clock expired put Duke up eight with less than four minutes to go, and that was enough.

The win moved Duke to 5-0 to extend a remarkable start to the basketball season across the Triangle — a combined 14-0 record among Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State — and apply some pressure on the Wolfpack to keep up. The Blue Devils beat Kansas by 12 in New York. The Tar Heels beat Kansas by 13 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Wolfpack hosts Kansas in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 13.

Still, the stiffest opposition the Blue Devils have faced yet did raise some questions for which Duke does not yet have answers. Cameron — admittedly, in his fifth college game — was unable to impose his will against Kansas’ front line the way he has against lesser competition. Too often, he shot-faked himself into corners, lacking a Plan B against players more his equal. He was better in the second half, pounding the boards the old-fashioned way.

Duke also found it more difficult to protect the ball against a more active defense, going to an early two-point look with Caleb Foster and Cayden both on the floor in an attempt to stem the early turnovers that led to easy Kansas buckets. That too is an area for improvement.

If Bidunga had stayed out of foul trouble, or if Self hadn’t been hesitant to re-insert Bidunga late in the first half, things might have been different for Duke. As it was, Kansas wasn’t quite at Duke’s level offensively — especially without injured point guard Darryn Peterson, denying the nightcap a showcase of freshman future NBA stars — but its defense was a new experience that required adjustment to surmount.

They are young. They are learning. They are not going to win every game by 15. But they haven’t lost yet, either.

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