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Top six takeaways from the State Farm Champions Classic

Malik Monk falling was one of the bigger surprises of the 2017 NBA Draft

In what ended up being a great night of college basketball, four of the best teams in the nation — including the top two teams — were featured on the hallowed hardwood of Madison Square Garden in the State Farm Champions Classic.

In the first matchup, No. 2 Kentucky beat No. 13 Michigan State, 69-48.

In the second matchup No. 7 Kansas beat No. 1 Duke, 77-75, on a last-second shot.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the games as we look ahead to the impact that each of these four teams will undoubtedly make on the 2016-17 season.

1. Kentucky freshman Malik Monk is for real

In only his third game as a Wildcat, freshman Malik Monk left no doubt that he has the star power to live up to his amazing potential. Monk is a former five-star recruit from Lepanto, Ark. (Bentonville High School), who decided to go with Kentucky over a plethora of other big-time offers, including Kansas, Baylor, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and in-state Arkansas.

He was ranked as the No. 10 overall recruit in the 2016 class, according to 247Sports. So far he’s living up to the hype.

Monk has progressed over his first three games. He put up 10 points against Stephen F. Austin, 16 against Cansuius and a very impressive 23 versus the Spartans. Monk was 8-of-17 from the floor and was dynamite from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-3, 200 pound combo guard knocked in 7-of-11 three-point attempts, and he also led the Wildcats with six rebounds — all defensive.

So far so good for the likely future NBA Draft first-rounder.

2. Kansas can be scary good

The Jayhawks may have entered Tuesday night’s matchup as the underdog, according to the rankings, but nobody told them that. They looked dominant at times against Duke. Even when the game tightened up and the Blue Devils tied it up with seconds go to, Kansas found a way to prevail.

This is a team has some legitimate playmakers with legitimate experience. Senior guard Frank Mason III hit the game-winner, and he led the team with 21 points.

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Junior Devonte’ Graham was more of a nice role-player who occasionally broke out for the Jayhawks last season. But he proved against Duke that he can be a big-time star. He shot 6-of-11 from the field, notched three rebounds, three assists and a block. He made some beautiful plays for the Jayhawks and finished with 13 big points.

What has to be frightening for the rest of the Top 25 is Kansas’ depth. The Jayhawks went four deep against Duke, with sophomore Lagerald Vick putting up nine points and five rebounds while big-man freshman Udoka Azubuike from Delta, Nigeria played a huge role down-low. The 7-foot, 280 pound freshman finished with 12 rebounds (four on the offensive glass) and six points.

Kansas has experience, talent, star power and depth. The Jayhawks bounced back from their season-opening loss to No. 11 Indiana and looked like a top team in the process.

3. Michigan State Is Going To Be Just Fine

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MSU is 0-2 to start the 2016-17 season, but that’s not going to bother future hall-of-fame coach Tom Izzo. Keep in mind, his team has now played two of the top contenders in college basketball. It took on No. 10 Arizona before dropping the Champions Classic matchup with the Wildcats. Against Arizona, the Spartans lost on a last-second layup, 65-63.

No, the Spartans didn’t really match up well with Kentucky, but Izzo builds his teams for the long-haul. He understands the process and is looking to test this bunch in the early going in order to get it ready for both the Big Ten schedule as well as March Madness.

Yes, he really does think that far ahead.

And that’s not to say MSU didn’t show some good things against Kentucky, because it did. Sophomore forward Kenny Goins neared a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, and Izzo got 26 points from his bench.

4. Wildcats have a plethora of weapons, per usual

Monk was the star for Kentucky, but he was one of two players in double figures against the Spartans. Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe — basically an upperclassman by John Calipari’s standards — finished the game with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists. Last season for Kentucky, Briscoe averaged 9.6 points and 3.1 assists, so look for him to play an even bigger role this year for the Wildcats.

But of course, it’s the freshmen who tend to stand out as the stars for Big Blue Nation. Monk was joined by forward Edrice Adebayo and guard De’Aaron Fox as freshmen in the starting lineup, and both players had good outings against MSU. Adebayo was a big presence down-low with six points, five rebounds and two blocks. Fox scored 12 and notched six assists.

He also did this:

5. Duke will bounce back, believe it

The Blue Devils may have lost as the No. 1 team in the nation, but that doesn’t mean Mike Krzyzewski’s team has any less potential. In fact, it has a ton more.

Keep in mind, three top players were missing from Duke’s arsenal. Center Marques Bolden and forwards Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles were unavailable to Krzyzewski due to injury. All three players are freshman and all three are five-star recruits.

Add them to a lineup that already features Luke Kennard (22 points versus the Jayhawks), senior forward Amile Jefferson, five-star freshman guard Frank Jackson and Grayson Allen. It’s safe to assume that Duke will be just fine despite the loss.

6. Hello, Josh Jackson 

Malik Monk stole the show as far as freshman play at the Champions Classic was concerned, but Kansas freshman Josh Jackson had himself a pretty impressive night as well. Jackson, a former five-star from Detroit, was actually the consensus top recruit in the 2016 class. And though he did foul out with just over five minutes to go, he did do some very impressive things.

Jackson is a smooth 6-foot-8, 207 pound guard who can drive the paint with ease. But he can also fill it up from the outside if a defense gives him too much room to operate. Against Duke, he put up 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He did go 0-4 from the charity stripe, and it looked at times that he was frustrated by the fouls called against him. So there are certainly parts of his game that Bill Self will want him to work on.

With that said, Jackson’s star potential was obvious against Duke, even in an imperfect outing.

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