Cats share scouting report on Cooper Flagg, Blue Devils

The current Wildcats don’t have many memories of the historic Kentucky vs. Duke rivalry — maybe because they haven’t been alive for many wins. They took care of the Blue Devils with a 74-63 victory in 2015, but outside of that matchup in Chicago, the Cats lost all three other Champions Classic matchups in the series. Their last win before that? The Scott Padgett game in 1998.

Amari Williams only remembers Zion Williamson and that beatdown in 2018, unfortunately.

“Zion, that’s the only one I really think of when I think of Duke. Before that, I didn’t really watch much college basketball,” he said Monday. “We didn’t have many of the channels, so Zion is the one that stands out to me. I do (remember that matchup), unfortunately. Hopefully it doesn’t go that way this time around.”

As for Otega Oweh, he played for the same AAU program as Cam Reddish, Team Final of the Nike EYBL circuit. He followed the former Blue Devil’s career — and that same 2018 loss for the Cats.

“I don’t have a favorite Duke memory, but I’d say my favorite Duke player is Cam Reddish,” Oweh added. “He was on the same AAU team that I was on and I’ve always liked watching him, for sure.”

Not a hot start for the new guys, but that’s what Tuesday is for, right? It’s a chance to create new memories — particularly positive ones. The game prep is well underway in an effort to do just that, the Wildcats transitioning from Bucknell to Duke as soon as the game went final on Saturday.

What do they know about Jon Scheyer’s bunch? Well, they’ve got the likely No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, for starters. Kerr Kriisa will tell you the 6-9 freshman has already earned the honor — “Congrats to him already,” he said.

They’re excited to match up against Cooper Flagg, about as tough of an individual assignment you’ll find on both ends of the floor.

“It’ll be fun, he’s a great player. Everyone has kind of seen what he can do,” Williams said. “It’s about going out and being confident in our defense and the plans we have for him, sticking to it. Trusting the guys we have around us, I feel like that’s going to bring us a W in this game.”

Sticking with the frontcourt, the Blue Devils have two rotating pieces at the five in Khaman Maluach and Maliq Brown, the former standing 7-2 and a potential lottery pick. Those’ll be the head-to-head matchups for Williams and Brandon Garrison inside State Farm Arena.

Kentucky’s five man likes where things stand there.

“It’ll be fun. Even the other big they have, Maliq Brown, those two are very skilled. (Maluach) is 7-2 and long,” Williams added. “Boxing out is going to be something we’ve got to emphasize. Like I said, I feel like me and BG is one of the best frontcourts in the nation. I feel like we’ll do just fine.”

As for the rest of the bunch, the Wildcats have scouted them thoroughly with two main takeaways: size and depth.

“(We know) a lot. I watched the games they’ve played before,” Oweh said of the Blue Devils. “We’re playing them, so we have their scout. We’re definitely doing our part. They’re pretty tall, there’s no one under 6-5 in their starting lineup. They’re tall, but it’s college basketball.”

“We have (scouted them), we know what they’ve got,” Williams added. “Similar to us, they’ve got a deep bench with some older guys. I feel like we match up well with them. We’ll see how it’s going to work out tomorrow.”

Scheyer’s got a good team, but so does Mark Pope. May the best former hooper coaching at their alma mater win.