photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self calls a play during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse.

After a brief lull with a pair of home matchups against mid-major opponents, both of whom the Jayhawks handled fairly well — “get-better games,” as point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. called them — the difficulty of Kansas’ schedule is about to ratchet back up.

KU will travel to face No. 11 Duke in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday as part of the Vegas Showdown event. It’s another battle of powerhouses amid a nonconference schedule for KU that already included North Carolina and Michigan State and still features pending matchups at Creighton, at Missouri and versus N.C. State.

The grind doesn’t stop for the Jayhawks, even though they just experienced one of their only weeklong breaks of the entire season. Six full days between games is the second-longest interval for KU all year, close behind the eight days the Jayhawks get for their holiday break between Brown (Dec. 22) and West Virginia (Dec. 31). The Big 12’s 20-game league schedule affords no breaks this year.

Duke is coming off a bit less of a break after earning an impressive ranked win on the road at another Big 12 foe, Arizona, on Friday, 69-55.

Under Jon Scheyer, the new-look Duke took a step forward in 2023-24 when it exceeded Scheyer’s first NCAA Tournament finish by two rounds, upsetting No. 1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16 to reach the Elite Eight. This will be the first matchup against Scheyer for KU coach Bill Self since Scheyer replaced Mike Krzyzewski, as Self was suspended when the Jayhawks beat Duke 69-64 two seasons ago.

“He’s done a great job,” Self said on Friday. “And let’s just call it like it is: Duke has been really, really good for a long, long time in large part because of Coach (K), but also because of the culture they had built over time, recruited other great players, and … what Jon has done in a short amount of time is very impressive.”

From last year’s team, Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain went to the NBA, and Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach transferred, along with five other players. Instead, as the Blue Devils look to climb back to the heights of the Krzyzewski era, this year’s squad hinges on several fearsome freshmen, led by the 6-foot-9 preseason All-American wing Cooper Flagg, who is widely considered a generational prospect. Self equated him to the likes of other past ready-made talents like Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Michael Beasley.

“He’d present problems to anybody that plays him,” Self said. “He’s terrific. We did recruit him, I guess made it to the final three. Talent, athleticism, skill, but there’s another element that’s what makes him different, (which) is that he’s so competitive and tough.”

Flagg put up 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Duke’s first high-major action of the year, but he did show his youth (he reclassified from the 2025 class) with a pair of turnovers in the final 12 seconds that allowed the Wildcats to pull out a 77-72 victory. He later scored 24 against Arizona.

Duke’s young lineup also includes fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel, a double-digit scorer himself at 14.4 points per game, and Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center, to go with returning guards Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

photo by: AP Photo/Darryl Webb

Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg (2) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz.

photo by: AP Photo/Darryl Webb

Duke Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel (7) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz.

photo by: AP Photo/John Bazemore

Duke center Khaman Maluach (9) reacts after a Blue Devils basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Atlanta.

“Everybody’s going to talk about the one, but the other two are potential lottery picks, if not lottery picks too,” Self said of the freshmen. “They’ve got a really good roster. And then you throw, obviously, Proctor and Foster in there, that’s pretty good. That’s as good as talent from a starting-five standpoint you’ll see all year long.”

While KU’s rotation relies heavily on fourth- and fifth-year players, Proctor, a junior, is the Blue Devils’ most experienced player — at least in the starting lineup. He and Knueppel are each shooting above 40% from deep. They also have transfers like Maliq Brown (Syracuse), Mason Gillis (Purdue) and Sion James (Tulane) coming off the bench.

“We definitely got better with our ball-screen defense,” KU guard Rylan Griffen said. “That’s something that we have to keep going up when it comes to Duke because they’re so good, so tall and athletic and stuff.”

Duke has fielded a high-level defense despite its lack of continuity from previous seasons, holding teams to 57.4 points per game; the Blue Devils are also outrebounding opponents by an average of 11 boards per game, although that number is inflated by their dominant showings against Maine, Army and Wofford.

It’ll be a tough matchup for KU, possibly its toughest of the numerous preseason tests. As the Jayhawks try to forge their identity in the early stages of the year, one particular area stands out to newcomer Griffen that could also help them greatly against Duke.

“I feel like we look better in transition right now, because we’re just advancing the ball, and getting easy layups, easy lobs, easy 3s,” he said. “It’s easier to go against an unset defense, too. I feel like that’s when we’re at our best, and I feel like we can play in transition even more.”

No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (5-0) vs. No. 11 Duke Blue Devils (4-1)

• T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, 8 p.m. Central Time

• Broadcast: ESPN

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Keep an eye out

All in: For the first time in years, KU has a rather sparse Thanksgiving week after playing three games in four days in 2021-22 and three games in three days each of the last two seasons as part of various multi-team events. Self says tournaments like the Battle 4 Atlantis or Maui Invitational are “when you can actually have a chance to become a team,” and referenced the Thursday night double-overtime matchup between Baylor and St. John’s in the Bahamas as one that could “give you momentum for the next month.” The Jayhawks might get some sort of momentum if the Duke game goes their way, but they don’t play again until Saturday. That means KU and Duke alike will be less concerned with MTE-style personnel management: “This will be a game that I’m sure that both teams play to win regardless of the bench situation, that kind of stuff,” Self said.

Post presence: Self said he’s realized KU needs to play two-big basketball with Flory Bidunga and Hunter Dickinson for five to seven minutes per game, as he looks to get Bidunga up toward 20 minutes. As Duke can threaten inside with Flagg and Maluach, it might be to Self’s benefit to use this personnel grouping even more, particularly when paired with some of the Jayhawks’ top shooters. (Granted, KJ Adams could be quite valuable in this matchup, too.) Self has said he expects Bidunga to be 100% for Tuesday’s game after he left the UNCW game in the first half with a minor ankle issue.

Turning it up: Dajuan Harris Jr. played an exceptional game against UNCW, tallying 17 points and six assists while holding the Seahawks’ Donovan Newby to seven points and 2-for-9 shooting. Self suggested postgame he thought Harris had found another gear defensively as opposed to his performance during the 2023-24 campaign. Tuesday will be the next chance for him to continue the strong run of form against the Blue Devils’ dynamic guards.

Off-kilter observation

Self said he’s never been to Cameron Indoor Stadium, though once drove by it when he was in town trying to recruit a potential transfer. He added he’d “love to go home and home with Duke” the way KU is currently with North Carolina (the Jayhawks play a return date in Chapel Hill next year), working around potential Champions Classic scheduling logistics.