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Kentucky is ice cold in the Champions Classic and against Duke. Can Pope change that too?

Drew Franklinby:Drew Franklin11/12/24

DrewFranklinKSR

Mark Pope coaching up Lamont Butler - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Mark Pope coaching up Lamont Butler - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio

Everything looks different around Kentucky Basketball lately, so, maybe, this year’s Champions Classic will look different, too. Kentucky needs to see a change at the annual four-team college basketball showcase, where the Wildcats are 5-8 in 13 Champions Classic games, tied with Michigan State for the worst record of the participating teams.

Champions Classic Head-To-Head Records

DukeKansasKentuckyMichigan State
vs. Duke3–11–31–4
vs. Kansas1–32–32–2
vs. Kentucky3–13–22–2
vs. Michigan State4–12–22–2
Total8–58–55–85–8

The Champions Classic was a fantastic event in its early days. In the inaugural year at Madison Square Garden, Kentucky’s 2012 national championship team beat Kansas in the second game on the 2011-12 schedule. All five Kentucky starters–Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, and Anthony Davis–scored in double figures, led by Lamb’s 17 in his home city.

Nov 15, 2011; New York, NY, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Tyshawn Taylor (10) has his shot blocked by Kentucky Wildcats forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first half at the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Three years later, the Wildcats beat Kansas by 32 points in Indianapolis, sparking an undefeated three-year run in the second rotation of the Champions Classic. Kentucky beat Kansas, Duke, and Michigan State by an average margin of 21.3 points in three wins from 2014 to 2016.

Nov 18, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas Jayhawks Coach Bill Self reacts to his team’s play against the Kentucky Wildcats in the 1st half of the State Farm Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Porter Binks-USA TODAY Sports

Things took a turn for the worse in Chicago in 2017, Kentucky’s first Champions Classic loss to Kansas. It has mostly been a bad experience for Big Blue Nation ever since.

Kentucky lost six of the last seven Champions Classic games

Kentucky has one win since sweeping the Champions Classic’s three-year cycle from 2014-2016. The Wildcats lost six of the next seven, including the last four of the John Calipari era. In the most recent heartbreak, the Wildcats blew a 14-point, second-half lead to Kansas. The year before that, Kentucky again blew a late second-half lead in a double-overtime loss to Michigan State.

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YearOpponentResultScoreLocation
2023KansasL89 – 84Chicago
2022Michigan StateL77 – 86 2 OTIndianapolis
2021DukeL71 – 79New York
2020KansasL62 – 65Indianapolis
2019Michigan StateW69 – 62New York
2018DukeL84 – 118Indianapolis
2017KansasL61 – 65Chicago
2016Michigan StateW69 – 48New York
2015DukeW74 – 63Chicago
2014KansasW72 – 40Indianapolis
2013Michigan StateL74 – 78Chicago
2012DukeL68 – 75Atlanta
2011KansasW75 – 65New York

Kentucky also has a losing streak in the Duke series

Many, including the oddsmakers in the desert, think Kentucky will extend its Champions Classic losing streak when the Wildcats play No. 6 Duke, featuring projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, in Atlanta. A loss would follow the trend because Kentucky has an ugly modern-day record in the Duke series, too.

The Blue Devils won nine of the last 11 games against Kentucky going back to 1979. Kentucky’s only wins in the last 55 years were the 1978 national championship when The Goose Was Golden, the improbable comeback in the 1998 Elight Eight, and the time Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray combined for 34 points in Kentucky’s only Champions Classic win against Duke in 2015.

Kentucky has not done well against Duke otherwise, especially at the Champions Classic. But Mark Pope brought drastic changes to UK Basketball. He’s been nearly close to perfect so far. He’s made all the right moves and lit the fan base on fire with excitement. Maybe he can keep the hot start going with changes to the way the Wildcats perform in the Champions Classic and against Duke.

Go Cats. Beat Duke. Stay hot, Pope.

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2024-12-08