The Duke Blue Devils' trio of star freshman - Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish - made a statement last night in the Champions Classic, as they combined for 83 points en route to a 118-84 victory against the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. The 34-point margin of victory marked the worst loss in John Calipari's coaching career.
"They were just better than us," Calipari said, per ESPN. "I told [my team], 'I got outcoached, you guys got outplayed. We'll watch the tape and move on.'"
"They're a very good team," Calipari said. "If they play like that, they're not losing many, if that's who they are."
RJ Barrett led the way for the Dukies with a game-high 33 points in addition to six assists and four rebounds. Reddish pitched in 22 points and four steals, and Zion Williamson, who is best known for his endless highlight reel of rim rattling dunks, finished with 28 points, seven boards and this impressive sequence shown below:
Remember, that's not some Division 3 school. That's the Kentucky Wildcats.
Coach K described his team as "magnificent" following their blowout victory, and you'd have to agree that's an accurate way to describe what they did on Tuesday night. "I'm really proud of my guys," Coach K said. "You start four freshmen, no matter how talented they are, you never know what they're going to do in this environment against an outstanding team and great program. And they responded. They were magnificent."
Check out some more highlights from Duke's decisive victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in the tweets embedded below.