On Tuesday, the Jayhawks came up short against Duke, giving them their second loss of the early season and a 3-2 record. If the trend with the polls continues, the Jayhawks will either slip to No. 25 or even go unranked, despite a somewhat encouraging performance without Darryn Peterson.

Duke also found it more difficult to protect the ball against a more active defense, going to an early two-point look with Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer both on the floor in an attempt to stem the early turnovers that led to easy Kansas buckets. That too is an area for improvement.

Cameron Boozer had 18 points and 10 rebounds, twin brother Cayden made a couple of big second-half baskets and fifth-ranked Duke outlasted No. 24 Kansas, defeating the undermanned Jayhawks 78-66 in the annual Champions Classic.

Kansas took early control despite playing without Peterson. But as the game wore on the Jayhawks didn't have enough firepower to keep up with a loaded Duke lineup.

The No. 25 Kansas Jayhawks (3-1) travel to Madison Square Garden to face the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (4-0) in a neutral-site Men’s College Basketball matchup.

With Darryn Peterson out with injury and Cameron Boozer going 7-for-17 from the field, Duke's matchup against Kansas wasn't the battle between freshman phenoms that many fans expected. Instead, Duke proved the value of connectivity and roster versatility.

Perfect shooting night from emerging Duke big man Patrick Ngongba II lifts Duke past Kansas originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Duke Handles Kansas To Claim 5th Straight Win