KU basketball vs. Duke: Previous matchups between the college basketball blue bloods

Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer is off to a 2-0 start in his first season as successor to Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest college coach of all-time.

The 35-year-old former Blue Devil player, who last week led Duke to season-opening home victories over Jacksonville (71-44) and USC Upstate (84-38), on Tuesday will work his first game against a fellow blue-blood school.

Scheyer will be matching Xs and Os with Kansas acting head coach Norm Roberts when the Jayhawks (2-0) and Blue Devils (2-0) meet at the Champions Classic (8:30 p.m. Central, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis). Kentucky (2-0) and Michigan State (1-1) will meet in the first game of the event at 6 p.m. Central.

Scheyer will try to emulate the success Coach K had against KU during his 39 seasons in Durham. The Blue Devils, in games coached by Krzyzewski, went 8-5 vs. the Jayhawks. Krzyzewski went 2-3 against Bill Self-led Jayhawk teams and 3-1 against squads coached by Roy Williams and Larry Brown.

Scheyer has been on Coach K’s staff for four of the games vs. Kansas: one Blue Devil win against three losses.

In a wild twist, 11 of the meetings between the teams throughout history (all coached by Coach K) have been contested on neutral floors. KU is 3-3 vs. Coach K in the NCAA Tournament (1-2 in the Final Four). KU is 2-1 vs. Duke in the Champions Classic, 0-1 at the Maui Invitational, 0-1 in the Preseason NIT and 0-1 at both Allen Fieldhouse and Cameron Indoor Stadium.

KU has won four of the last six in the series. The Jayhawks dropped the last meeting, 68-66, in the Champions Classic in 2019 at Madison Square Garden. KU’s Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris were on that KU team. Wilson was the only one of the two to actually get in the game, playing two minutes.

Those two Jayhawks like the idea of KU playing blue-blood Duke once again.

“Every kid growing up wants to play against Kentucky, Duke, schools like that,” said Wilson, KU’s leading scorer at 20 points per game. “Now that we’ve got the opportunity to do it we’ve got to prepare for it. Kansas, UNC, Duke, Michigan State, we’re all there competing every single year. It shows the level of basketball, Hall of Fame coaches, all-around great basketball minds. You’ve got to come to play.”

Of Duke, Harris said: “Growing up as a kid you watched Kansas and Duke games all the time. These are four of the best teams in the country. Duke and Kansas are two of the best blue bloods ever. It’s a big game. They are not in our conference; everybody is going to be watching, though. It’s a big game.”

Here’s a look at all 13 games between KU and the Krzyzewski-led Blue Devils leading up to Tuesday’s game.

April 1, 1991: No. 6 Duke 72, No. 12 Kansas 65, NCAA title game in Indianapolis

This has to be one of Krzyzewski’s biggest wins, considering it marked the first of his five NCAA titles. Duke’s Christian Laettner went 12-of-12 from the free throw line and scored 18 points with 10 rebounds. Bill McCaffrey scored 16 points and Bobby Hurley had 12 points and nine assists while playing all 40 minutes. Grant Hill contributed 10 points and eight boards.

KU’s Mark Randall scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Terry Brown and Adonis Jordan had 16 and 11 points respectively.

Duke won the title after reaching the Final Four in four straight seasons and five of six. Duke went on to win the title the following season as well.

April 2, 1988: Kansas 66, No. 5 Duke 59, NCAA Final Four semifinal in Kansas City

KU’s Danny Manning and Milt Newton scored 25 and 20 points respectively. Danny Ferry scored 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.

KU went on to win the NCAA title in Manning’s senior year and Brown’s fifth and final season as Jayhawk coach. Chris Piper scored 10 points for KU in a game in which just five Jayhawks scored. Manning had 10 rebounds, while Kevin Pritchard had seven boards, five assists and six points. Kevin Strickland had 10 points for Duke.

March 29, 1986: No. 1 Duke 71, No. 2 Kansas 67, NCAA Final Four semifinal in Dallas

Duke’s Johnny Dawkins scored 24 points. KU’s Ron Kellogg had 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Duke’s Danny Ferry scored eight points, while ESPN broadcast legend Jay Bilas had seven points.

Calvin Thompson and Archie Marshall scored 13 points apiece, while point guard Cedric Hunter had eight rebounds, five points and three assists for KU. Duke hit 21 of 30 free throws to KU’s 9 of 12.

A young Manning scored four points before fouling out in the battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The Jayhawks finished that season 35-4 with two losses coming to Duke.

March 25, 2018: No. 4-ranked Kansas 85, No. 9 Duke 81, OT, NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game in Omaha, Nebraska

KU’s trip to the 2018 Final Four was assured when Grayson Allen’s last-second shot rolled around the rim and barely missed at the buzzer of regulation, forcing OT. Svi Mykhailiuk’s 22-foot three-pointer had tied the game in the final minute.

Malik Newman led the way with 32 points on 8-of-19 shooting (5 of 12 threes) with seven rebounds and three steals.

Newman — the most outstanding player of the Midwest Regional — scored all 13 KU points in overtime. His three from the corner gave KU an 81-78 lead with 1:47 left. He also hit four free throws down the stretch of OT.

Kansas guards Lagerald Vick (14), Mykhailiuk (11) and Devonté Graham (11) each scored in double figures. For Duke, Trevon Duval had 20 points, while Gary Trent (17), Marvin Bagley (16), Allen (12) and Wendell Carter (10) finished in double figures.

March 27, 2003: No. 6 Kansas 69, No. 7 Duke 65, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California

KU downed Duke during a season in which the Jayhawks marched all the way to the NCAA title game, falling to Syracuse in Roy Williams’ final game as KU coach.

KU’s Nick Collison scored a career-high 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting and grabbed 19 rebounds. Keith Langford scored 13 points with eight boards. Kirk Hinrich scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting.

Duke’s Dahntay Jones scored 23 points, but guard J.J. Redick was held to five points on 2-of-16 shooting.

March 19, 2000: No. 1 Duke 69, Kansas 64, NCAA Tournament second round in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Shane Battier scored a game-high 21 points and blocked a career-best eight shots while Carlos Boozer scored 15 points with 13 rebounds.

Duke won despite hitting 2 of 17 threes and committing 23 turnovers. KU had 10 shots blocked by the Blue Devils.

The Jayhawks led early, 13-4, and the game was knotted at halftime, 35-35. Boozer made a crucial steal that eventually led to two Chris Carrawell free throws to give Duke a 67-64 lead with 24.7 seconds left. Jason Williams closed the scoring with two free throws. Hinrich led the Jayhawks with 12 points.

Nov. 15, 2016: No. 7 Kansas 77, No. 1 Duke 75, Champions Classic in New York

Frank Mason hit a 12-foot jump shot just in front of the free-throw line with 1.3 seconds left to break a 75-75 tie and give the No. 7-rated Jayhawks a victory over the top-ranked team in the country.

The Blue Devils tied the game on a three-pointer by Frank Jackson with 15 seconds left. KU called a timeout with 8.2 seconds remaining to set up the game-winning shot for Mason.

Mason finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added five assists. Duke’s Allen scored 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Josh Jackson scored 15 points and Graham had 13 points for KU. Luke Kennard scored 22 points for Duke, which trailed by 12 points (62-50) with eight minutes left. Mason’s game winner was an early highlight from his National Player of the Year season.

Nov. 6, 2019: No. 4 Duke 68, No. 3 Kansas 66, Champions Classic in New York

Devon Dotson led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but he had six of KU’s 26 turnovers. KU had 18 turnovers the first half. Duke had 16 turnovers.

Tre Jones led Duke with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Cassius Stanley had 13 points, with 11 in the second half.

Trailing 61-59 with 2:29 left, Stanley scored a driving layup and converted an ensuing free throw. Dotson missed a layup on the other end and Jones then hit a jumper at 1:33.

Marcus Garrett put the Jayhawks back within one. After a miss by the Blue Devils, Kansas turned the ball over with 37 seconds left. Jones then converted two free throws with 26.2 seconds left. KU didn’t score until a last-second shot by Dotson.

Nov. 23, 2011: No. 6 Duke 68, No. 14 Kansas 61, Maui Invitational final in Lahaina, Hawaii

The Blue Devils improved their all-time record in Maui to 15-0 by overcoming a seven-point second-half deficit in the tourney finale.

KU led by one point with 1:10 left.

Duke’s Tyler Thornton, who had made just two three-pointers all season entering the game, swished two threes in the final 1:10. His first three erased a 61-60 deficit at 1:10. He then buried another with 20 seconds left.

Tyshawn Taylor led KU with 17 points, but he also had 11 turnovers. Thomas Robinson added 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Jeff Withey contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly scored 17 points. Austin Rivers added 10 more for the Blue Devils.

Nov. 12, 2013: No. 5 Kansas 94, No. 4 Duke 83, Champions Classic in Chicago

Perry Ellis scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and eight boards in a game closer than the score indicated.

Wayne Selden contributed 15 points with six boards and four assists, and Mason had 15 points, with 11 coming at the free-throw line.

KU led by two points with just over a minute to play. Wiggins hit a step-back jumper and, after an Ellis steal, Wiggins dunked to up the Jayhawks’ lead to six points. Wiggins guarded Duke’s Jabari Parker (27 points on 9-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds) in the second half after Parker burned KU for 19 first-half points.

Dec. 1, 1985: No. 3 Duke 92, No. 5 Kansas 86, Preseason NIT title game in New York

Manning had 24 points and eight boards, while Calvin Thompson and Kellogg scored 22 and 20. Duke’s David Henderson led the way with 30 points, while Mark Alarie and Dawkins had 21 and 20.

Duke hit 22 of 25 free throws to KU’s 6 of 9.

Feb. 20, 1988: No. 6 Duke 74, Kansas 70, OT in Lawrence, Kansas

The Jayhawks led 23-8, but Duke trailed by just one at halftime. The Jayhawks led by six with three minutes left.

Manning scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Quin Snyder and Danny Ferry had 21 and 20 points for Duke. Milt Newton contributed 15 points for KU.

Manning scored five points in the first 45 seconds of overtime to put Kansas on top, 65-60. Manning, who did not score again, never took a shot from the 4:15 mark until he fouled out with 16 seconds left, with Duke up 72-68.

At the 52-second mark, Kevin Strickland’s stickback gave Duke a 69-68 lead. Kansas never led or tied again. Snyder, who had half the Blue Devils’ 14 points in the OT, made three of four free throws and reserve center John Smith hit two of two down the stretch to clinch it.

Feb. 18, 1989: No. 11 Duke 102, Kansas 77 in Durham, North Carolina

The Jayhawks dropped their seventh straight game during Roy Williams’ first season as KU coach.

Ferry, who had his jersey number retired that day, scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on a snowy day. Duke rolled to an 11-2 start and led by 19 at halftime. Duke shot 65 percent from the field and never let KU get closer than 17 points in the second half.