LAS VEGAS — Basketball Duke I had another experience that showed that experience matters.
Similar to the pain of losing to Kentucky, the 11th-ranked Blue Devils found themselves down to the wire with No. 1 Kansas Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena and failed in the final seconds of a 75-72 loss in Las Vegas.
Duke (4-2) had the ball in the final 30 seconds of both games with a chance to win, but turnovers derailed those plans against the Wildcats (6-0) and Jayhawks (6-0).
“It feels the same, I’ll tell you that,” Sion James said outside the Duke locker room at T-Mobile Arena after the tough loss to Kansas.
“We hate having to lose games to learn. We could have won this match and learned a lot too. I wish we won the game, so we could learn a lot that way. It would have been much easier for us.
In their two games in the desert, Duke managed to pull off a big road win in Arizona in which the Blue Devils showed off their scary potential on both ends of the court. They showed it at times against Kansas, but it’s an accelerated learning experience when two of your key contributors — Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel — are freshmen.
Like Duke did against Kentucky, the ball was in the hands of Flagg and Knueppel throughout the sequence. And in a moment of deja vu, twists and turns were the theme.
“Really, the idea was to put the ball in Kon or Coop’s hands in the middle of the paint, let them play,” James said of the plan against Kansas.
“We trust those two with the game, and that’s really what it comes down to.”
James went on to say that Duke would trust Flagg and Knueppel to make those winning plays “100 times out of 100,” taking some of the blame himself for not being an outlet on Knueppel’s late turnover against the Jayhawks.
Overall, James added, the Blue Devils as a whole just weren’t “sharp enough” to win. Duke dug itself into a double-digit hole against Kansas, had a few offensive lulls and ultimately lost the rebounding battle.
“There’s a very fine line between winning and losing,” James said. “There were a number of 50-50 balls throughout the sequence. … In the last 10-12 minutes of the game, we didn’t get the ball.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer threw his guys into the heat of a tougher non-conference schedule in an effort to get the Blue Devils to rely on “being at our best in March.”
Count Kansas coach Bill Self and Kansas forward KJ Adams among those who believe in Duke’s potential.
“Duke won’t be the same team in March,” Adams said.
“The team we played today can win the national championship. You know, sure, I think we could do it too, but they’re really talented,” Self said.
Even if they fail at times, Scheyer wants his players to “dare greatly to be in those moments” against some of the best teams in the country, without letting doubt set in when things don’t go as planned.
“I believe in this team more than I can say. I love the heart and tenacity we showed,” Scheyer said.
“We will continue to improve. I think the ceiling we have to raise throughout the year is as high as anyone’s. It’s my job to make sure we get there, and we will.
We hope the early season experience of playing Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas and Auburn before Christmas could lead to a Final Four experience in April.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and NC State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Do you have questions about these teams? Send them to [email protected].
This article was originally published on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke Basketball gains valuable experience in losses to Kansas and Kentucky
