CHICAGO - The Champions Classic has a way of handing out early-season reality checks, and Tuesday night delivered a couple of them. Michigan State knocked off Duke, while Kansas rolled past Kentucky and put fresh pressure on the questions hanging over Mark Pope’s team.
The biggest individual performance of the night belonged to Kansas forward Stokes, who walked into the matchup with Duke as the clear favorite to be the top prospect in this NBA draft class. The spotlight only got brighter in a game he called “personal,” since Duke was the runner-up in his recruitment. He looked every bit the headliner, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
What stood out most was the jumper. Stokes hit four of eight from three, looked comfortable catching and firing, and even knocked down one on the move. He had entered the game just 1 of 4 from deep over his first two outings, but Bill Self said afterward he believed Stokes could shoot 40% from distance this season.
The rest of his night was built on force and control. He was dangerous in transition, kept finding lanes to the rim and still made the right reads when the defense collapsed.
He played with the kind of aggression that makes him hard to contain, but he never drifted into selfish basketball. For a player with his size, physicality and feel, the package is rare.
If this keeps up, it’s difficult to picture anyone else going No. 1 in June.
For Kentucky, the night had a far different feel. The Wildcats’ 2025-26 story has been shaped by their transfer portal misses, and a roster reported to cost $22 million not looking especially talented at times has already raised eyebrows. Tuesday only sharpened those concerns, as some of the spring additions stumbled in their first major test.
The most obvious issue is at point guard, where Kentucky appears committed to splitting ballhandling duties between Furman transfer Alex Wilkins and Washington transfer Zoom Diallo. Wilkins had a rough outing, finishing with five turnovers, one assist and a 3-for-10 shooting line.
Diallo scored efficiently, but he didn’t record an assist. It’s one game, but the Wildcats’ point guard play looks like a real problem with several marquee games coming over the next month.
Power forward is another spot worth watching. Kentucky’s late push for Mark Mitchell came up short, leaving the Wildcats with international import Ousmane N’Diaye and James Madison transfer Justin McBride. That looked shaky against Kansas, where Tre White led all scorers with 30 points while N’Diaye and McBride combined for four points and four rebounds.
Duke’s talent level is obvious. The Blue Devils’ bench is packed with former five-stars and players who look like future NBA names, and two top-20 recruits from this year’s class didn’t even see the floor Tuesday. But the loss also exposed a glaring issue: this version of Duke doesn’t have the kind of player who can seize a game the way Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer did the last two years.
Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell was the Blue Devils’ main source of instant offense and led the team in shot attempts with 16. Patrick Ngongba II, who had been dealing with illness before the game, has been central in exhibitions and early tune-ups. The 17-year-old Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, Duke’s most talented player, was quiet, finishing with five points and four rebounds.
Michigan State’s win was built on Scott, who is becoming exactly the kind of developmental success story Tom Izzo loves to tell. A top-60 recruit who earned his minutes early, grew into a starter late as a freshman and is now taking another leap as a sophomore, Scott announced himself on a bigger stage Tuesday. Izzo has praised him for a while, but this was the night Scott got national attention.
His six blocks were the headline, even ahead of his five points. But the box score barely captured how much he disrupted Duke’s offense.
He piled up deflections, pushed Duke’s wings out of their comfort zone and rotated as a help defender on drives and in gaps. Jeremy Fears Jr. put up 18 points and 11 assists, but Scott was the one who changed the game.
Scott didn’t shoot it well, but his start to the season has still been strong on offense. Add in a defensive performance like this, and he’s quickly becoming one of the most impactful two-way players in the Big Ten and beyond.
In Other News...
Kentucky Finally Got Clarity On Two Injuries That Could Shape The Stretch
Kentucky finally has a clearer picture on two defensive injuries that have lingered since the South Carolina game in early October. Nickel cornerback Jaden Smith tore his ACL in that matchup and will miss the rest of the season, a tough blow for a defense that has had to adjust without one of its key pieces in the secondary.
There is at least a sliver of better news on linebacker Antwan Smith, who underwent ankle surgery after the same game and could still have a path back for postseason play. With both players sidelined for weeks already, the latest update gives Kentucky a better sense of what it can and cannot count on as the season moves into its final stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Biggest Problem Showed Up Again In Ugly Kansas Loss
Kentucky came out with energy in Chicago and looked ready to make a statement in the Champions Classic, but the game quickly turned once Kansas started applying pressure. The Wildcats were undone by the same issues that have lingered around them, with turnovers feeding the Jayhawks run game and defensive breakdowns making it hard to recover after the opening stretch.
Zoom Diallo did his part with 24 points, and Malachi Morenos foul trouble only added to Kentuckys problems as the frontcourt rotation thinned out. Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds in the 89-69 loss, leaving Kentucky with another reminder that its margin for error shrinks fast when the ball security and physical defense are not there. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Still Has One Thing That Could Wreck Kentuckys Plans
Kentuckys playoff path took a hit in Week 10 with a six-point showing against Tennessee, and now the Wildcats head into a crucial home game against Florida with little margin for error. Kenny Minchey has given Kentucky a steady hand at quarterback this season, throwing 14 touchdowns against two interceptions, and the Wildcats will need that kind of efficiency again if they want to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Florida has its own issues on defense, but the Gators still bring one wrinkle that could make this matchup tricky for Kentucky. They have not named a starting quarterback for the game, leaving some uncertainty about what the Wildcats will see on the other side, and with both defenses showing vulnerabilities, this one has the feel of a game where one mistake could swing the whole thing. [Read more 🡒]