Four of men’s college basketball’s biggest brands were back under one roof Tuesday night for one of the sport’s signature early-season events. Here are four takeaways from the Champions Classic doubleheader:
1. Kentucky will be far better than its No. 17 preseason ranking
One of Kentucky’s three ballyhooed freshmen missed 11 of 12 shots he attempted. Another shot 0-for-6 and tallied more turnovers than points. The third was one of the Wildcats’ three 7-footers who sat out due to injury or eligibility concerns.
This sounds like a recipe for a 20-point Kentucky loss, but what actually happened was far more encouraging than that.