5th Ranked Duke 24th Ranked Kansas Are Facing Are Opposing Each Other In State Farm Champions Classic Tuesday Night At Madison Square Garden Home Of NBA's New York Knicks

Madison Square Garden is known as the world’s most famous arena!

5th ranked Duke, 24th ranked Kansas are facing are opposing each other in Champions Classic Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden home of NBA’s New York Knicks.

Duke is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference while Kansas is a member of the Big 12 Conference!

Duke comes into the Champions Classic with Kansas with record of 4-0 because they’ve won four games in a row including their game recently on Friday November 14, 2025 a 100-62 win over Indiana State in Durham.

4th ranked Duke falling behind their opponent having slow starts offensively has been a trend to start the 2025-2026 season!

On Friday Duke fell behind Indiana State 10-7 in 1st half who is playing without Matthew Graves coaching because he had triple bypass surgery and Indiana State doesn’t know when to expect him back on the bench. Matthew Graves recently visited a hospital in Terre Haute for evaluation following experiencing tightness in his chest . doctors determined he needed surgery . I’m truly grateful for incredible doctors at Union Health for helping my family and me through this process . I look forward to rejoining the program in near future . With coach Slessinger’s experience as a former Head Coach . I have complete confidence in his leadership during my absence . Can’t wait to see everyone back in Hulman Center. Go Sycamores!

A return to Head Coaching duties to the sideline for Matthew Graves has not been announced.

According to article by ESPN News Services

In spite of 4th ranked Duke’s slow start offensively Friday when opposing Indiana State who was playing without Matthew Graves coaching Duke beat Indiana State 100-62 as Cameron Boozer scored 35 points. As Cameron Boozer scored 35 points 13-16 on field goals ,, 2-2 on 3 pointers to go along 12 rebounds , 5 assists.

According to espn app

Following Duke’s slow start offensively when opposing Indiana State who was playing without Matthew Graves coaching Duke beating Indiana State 100 -62 as Cameron Boozer scored 35 points Cameron Boozer had this to say!

I wanted to focus on the right things, like defense, rebounding, pressure on the ball,”

When I’m doing those things, focusing on those things, the other things naturally happen.”

Following Duke’s slow start offensively when opposing Indiana State who was playing without Matthew Graves coaching Duke beating Indiana State 100 -62 as Cameron Boozer scored 35 points Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer had this to say about Cam Boozer!

Cam Boozer had a special night,“To me, it was about his approach. He’s such a competitor. He didn’t love the way he played at Army and he came back so determined.

“I think this was a really good game for us. I think there were some really good things we did. I think we’ve gotten a little bit better each game and each game presented different challenges -- Indiana State tonight with their offense.”

Following Duke’s slow start offensively when opposing Indiana State who was playing without Matthew Graves coaching Duke beating Indiana State 100 -62 as Cameron Boozer scored 35 points Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer had this to say about Indiana State a lead!

They really tested our defense,”“They play with great spacing, great pace. They do a good job screening and attack whatever defense you’re playing. “For us, right away, we got punched in the face and our defense wasn’t what it needed to be. I thought it was great for us to respond, and we did that.”

According to Chip Alexander News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article312864121.html

Kansas meanwhile comes into the Champions Classic with record of 3-1 because they beat Princeton 76-57 on Saturday in Lawrence where two players scored in double figures including Flory Bidunda who is a forward was 10-11 on field goals , 5-6 on free throws to go along 10 rebounds, 1 assists, 4 turnovers , 1 steal, 3 blocks 7 rebounds. Trey White who is a guard who was 4-7 on field goals , 0-2 on 3 pointers , 10-13 on free throws to go along with 8 rebounds.

According to ESPN App

Following Kansas win over Princton on Saturday Head Coach Bill Self shared his thoughts on Darryn Peterson’s injury ahead of Champions Classic where Kansas is going to be opposing Duke by saying No, we don't know. We got some things to discuss, and we're looking at it. He's getting the best treatment, I mean, all that stuff. But he's got tightness in his right hamstring, and you know he wants to be out there so bad, but I'm not gonna put him out there until he feels well. You can say or think, well, we're trying to win the battle. Well, yeah, we are. But the battle is not nearly as important as the long-term, so to speak, and we have got to get him where he's not hesitant to play. We have seen him play, and he's pretty good, and we still haven't seen him whole yet. Think about that. We need to get him where he can explode without the thought in his mind that something negative could happen, and it probably won't. But I don't want to put him in a situation where he's got to think about that."

Following Kansas win over Princton on Saturday Head Coach Bill Self shared his thoughts on Flory Bidunga, Tre White by saying I thought Flory was the best player in the game by far in the first half by far and gave us a lead, because we obviously weren't any good until then. And then, Tre did some good things too. So I would say, of our bright spots, those would probably be the two brightest ones."

Following Kansas win over Princton on Saturday Head Coach Bill Self shared his thoughts on the upcoming match up with Duke!

I'm not in the best of spirits right at this moment, but we'll get fired up. We'll certainly spend the rest of today getting ourselves ready for practice tomorrow to implement how we want to guard them, or how we're going to attempt to guard them and get ready for the game. It'll be a big boy game. They're good, you know, they're young again. Somebody asked me if they're better than last year, and I said, 'Well, it's too early to tell, but this early in the season, I think they may execute their stuff better than last year, for sure.' Now, last year, what did they have, four or five first-round draft picks and three lottery picks? So, certainly, they're loaded again, and they got a guy (Cameron Boozer) who could foul out a whole team. So we've got to figure out some way to guard him."

Following Kansas win over Princton on Saturday Head Coach Bill Self shared his thoughts on what frustrated him the most about Kansas slow start When a game plan is to deny backcuts, and they didn't throw it to him, but we were beat on the first possession twice. And then, they got up six threes, if I'm not mistaken, in the first four minutes and 30 seconds of the half. That's how you start a game. And switching up and doing all that stuff, I think that was poor, that set the tone. You know, I was pissed from the beginning. Wilder [Evers] has never entered a game that early in a game in his life. But I actually thought he did fine, and because we just didn't guard. It's okay not to be great offensively or whatnot, but you've got to be good defensively. And if you're not a great shooter or you're not making shots at this moment, then do something to help us win. And we didn't guard."

Following Kansas win over Princton on Saturday Head Coach Bill Self shared his thoughts on if his teams 3 point shooting is improving!

It's got to get better. Yeah, it's got to get better. What were we, five of 21? What is that, 23% or whatever? I think we're better shooters than what we are. Now, granted, if Darryn is playing, it's a different deal, because hopefully he's the one shooting a third of those threes himself, but we're not obviously going to have him, at least for the immediate future. I just don't know how long that will be."

According to Joshua Shulman Sports Illustrated article https://www.si.com/college/kansas/basketball/what-kansas-hc-bill-self-said-after-jayhawks-win-over-princeton

Tip off is set for 9:00pm Eastern Time 8:00pm Central time from Madison Square Garden!

The game is going to be televised on ESPN with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Kris Budden commentating!

Dan Shulman is play-by-play commentator for men’s college basketball on ESPN.

Shulman calls Saturday Primetime men’s college basketball games alongside analyst Jay Bilas and provides commentary for some of the top matchups throughout the season. He also called regular season MLB games for the network and was the voice of the World Series on ESPN Radio from 2011-22.

Shulman began working for ESPN in 1995 and previously served as the voice of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (2011-17), Monday Night Baseball (2008-10) and Wednesday Night Baseball (2002-07), along with ESPN Radio’s MLB postseason (1998-2022) and regular season (2002-07) coverage. Shulman also called NBA games for the network from 2006-11.

Outside of ESPN, Shulman handles play-by-play calls for the Toronto Blue Jays on Sportsnet in Canada (2016-present). Prior to ESPN, he called Blue Jays games on The Sports Network (TSN) from 1995-2001 and was the play-by-play commentator for the network’s NBA package of Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies games.

Shulman called Canadian Television’s (CTV) hockey coverage for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and CBC’s coverage of Olympic basketball for both the Tokyo (2021) and Paris (2024) Games.

Shulman has served in a variety of host roles for several networks, including: The Leafs This Week, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ weekly magazine show on CFTO (1992-95); The Major League Report and Baseball Today shows for The Fan, a 24-hour sports radio station in Toronto; Prime Time Sports, a syndicated sports radio show carried on stations across Canada; Blue Jays pre- and post-game shows on the Telemedia Sports Network, and various ESPN Radio weekend programming (1992-94).

Shulman has received many accolades and honors for his work. He was named the 2011 NSSA National Sportscaster of the Year, he is a two-time winner of the Sports Media Canada Broadcaster of the Year award (2000, 2007), he received the Jack Graney award from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, and he is a 2-time finalist for the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Shulman is a 1989 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where he received a degree in actuarial science.

Kris Budden is a college sports reporter for ESPN, working on football, basketball and baseball. She joins Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick on one of the top crews every Saturday for ABC and ESPN’s industry-leading college football coverage. She recently made her debut on grand slam tennis coverage with reporting duties at the US Open.

Prior to joining ESPN, Kris was a sideline and feature reporter for FOX Sports, covering NFL and college football from 2013-2015. During that time, Kris also worked for FOX Sports San Diego as a host and reporter for their coverage of the San Diego Padres.

Kris also spent six years at WBIR in Knoxville. Some of the notable events she covered included the 2012 London Olympics, NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments and Pat Summitt’s retirement. She also won an Associated Press Best Sports Feature Award.

She has been recognized for her excellence in sports broadcasting, having received an Associated Press Award for Best Sports, as well as a regional Emmy for Best Talent in Sports in 2016.

Kris graduated from the University of Missouri. She and her husband currently reside in Dallas with their son and daughter.Jay Bilas, known for his extensive knowledge of men’s basketball and insightful analysis about the sports industry, joined ESPN in 1995. Bilas, who is featured on ESPN’s game and studio coverage, calls the top men’s college basketball games involving the nation’s marquee teams and conferences every week throughout the season. He joined ESPN’s Saturday Primetime telecasts in 2015, adding to his role on the popular Saturday morning, College GameDay Covered by State Farm. He has been an analyst on the show since its debut in 2005. Bilas is present at the Men’s Final Four through studio coverage and game telecasts on ESPN International. He has been an integral part of ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Draft since 2003, providing in-depth player scouting and analysis. He is a regular contributor on several ESPN shows and platforms, including SportsCenter, Get Up! and ESPN Radio. In 2024, it was announced he will join ESPN’s NBA commentator team as a game analyst.

Bilas is a nine-time Emmy nominee: Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst (2007, 2008, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and Outstanding Sports Personality – Event Analyst (2016, 2017, 2019). In 2016, Bilas was the recipient of the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2022, Bilas was selected for induction into the Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame.

The New York Times Bestselling author of “Toughness: Developing True Strength on and Off the Court,” Bilas also writes for ESPN.com, and was awarded the Best Column of the Year in 2007 by The United States Basketball Writers Association.

A prep All-American from Los Angeles, California, the 6-7 Bilas was a four-year starter at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski from 1982-1986. As an undersized center, Bilas scored 1,062 points, grabbed 692 rebounds, and helped lead Duke to the No. 1 ranking, the 1986 ACC Championship and the 1986 NCAA Championship Game. Bilas’ 1986 Duke team set the NCAA record for the most wins in a single season with 37.

While a player at Duke, Bilas was appointed to the NCAA’s Long-Range Planning Committee, and served from 1984 through 1986. He appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation in 1985 to discuss academics and athletics and was a panelist, along with Howard Cosell, John Underwood, and Dr. Harry Edwards, on the prestigious 1986 National Sports Forum.

Drafted by the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Bilas played professional basketball overseas, ranking among the leagues’ top scorers in Italy during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, and then in Spain for part of the 1989 season before returning to Duke in 1990 to serve as an assistant coach on Krzyzewski’s staff, while also earning his law degree from Duke Law School. While Bilas was an assistant coach under Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Championship Gem three times, winning back-to-back National Championships in 1991 and 1992.

A member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1988, Bilas has appeared in nationally run television commercials and had a feature role as an alien cop in the Columbia Pictures film “I Come In Peace.” While still in high school, Bilas appeared in an episode of the popular television series “The White Shadow.”

Bilas has also distinguished himself on Twitter, having been named to Sports Illustrated’s “Twitter 100” for being among the 100 most essential Twitter follows in sports, and by Dime Magazine as the #2 “Baller” on Twitter behind only Shaquille O’Neal. Sports Illustrated honored Bilas in 2011 with the Sports Tweet of the Year. Bilas has been named one of The Ten Most Powerful Voices in Sports Media by The Hollywood Reporter, one of The 25 Most Powerful People in College Sports by Forbes, one of The 100 Most Powerful People in Sports by Hudl, and one of the 25 Most Powerful People in Sports Media by The Big Lead.

Since 1992, Bilas has been a licensed attorney with the law firm of Moore & Van Allen, PLLC, where he has specialized in commercial litigation. Bilas serves on the National Board of the Coaches vs. Cancer Organization, the Board of Advisors of the Duke Brain Tumor Center, and the Board of Directors of The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

A native of San Pedro, Calif., Bilas now resides in Charlotte, N.C., with his professional artist wife, Wendy.

According to https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/dan-shulman/

https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/bilas_jay/

https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/kris-budden/