The best time of year, college basketball season, kicked off Nov. 9. There were over 150 division one games alone that were played. The Champions Classic is one of the most exciting tournaments of the year, and the two games were Kansas vs Michigan State and Duke vs Kentucky.

At 6:00 p.m.,the first game was played with #3 Kansas vs the unranked but very good Michigan State. The Jayhawks went into the game as 4.5 point favorites. The Spartans were led by freshman standout Max Christie and small forward A.J. Hoggard while the Jayhawks were led by senior guard Ochai Abaji and senior center David Mccormack. This was a very highly anticipated game and we were in for a good one.

The first half was a very back and forth game mainly controlled by the Jayhawks. Abaji went off scoring 15 points and lighting it up from downtown making three three pointers in just the first half. Every time the Hawks went on a run, the Spartans would shut it down with a big shot. The first half ended in a score of 39-32 Kansas with the lead. Hoggard of Michigan State was slowly bringing them closer and closer, cutting the lead to only three points with the score being 48-45 KU. Senior Transfer Remy Martin really put on a show for KU in the second half, scoring 15 points after none in the first. KU started to slowly pull away with seven minutes left, going up by 10. KU pulled away and won 87-74 after Abaji’s career high of 29 points to put the Jayhawks 1-0 on the year.

The second game of the Championship classic was the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats. A lot of people were looking forward to watching these two Blue Blood’s face off in a very meaningful rivalry. The Blue Devils went into the game as 2.5 point favorites over Kentucky. Duke is led by a very talented, #1 ranked High School player Paolo Banchero. Kentucky is led by junior transfer Oscar Tshiebwe.

Banchero was a difference maker right when the game started, scoring 12 in the first half while Tshiebwe of Kentucky went after it on the glass grabbing 11 rebounds. The score of the first half was Duke 39 and Kentucky 35. In the second half, Duke controlled Kentucky in all aspects of the game making it very hard for them to score. Duke had a very impressive first win against a good Kentucky team ending in a score of 79-71. That wraps up the Championship classic until next year.

Over the first week of the year there were many standouts including Gonzaga’s big Drew Timme. In Gonzaga’s second game against a top #5 ranked team, Texas Timmie had 37 points, seven rebounds and three assists. In Timmie’s third game he had 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and two blocks. Timmie is the frontrunner to win national player of the year and if he keeps this up he will win the award.

Next, he has been the best player in College Basketball this year: Ochair Abaji. He is the starting small Forward at Kansas. In his first game against Michigan State he had 29 points which led College Basketball in most points that night. Then in his second game against Tarleton State he had 25 points and six rebounds. In his 3rd game against Stony Brook he scored 25 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Abaji leads Division one basketball with an average of 26.3 points a game.

Like every other year, this should be another very fun and exciting college basketball season. Be on the lookout for star players Drew Timmie and Ochai Agbaji as they continue to dominate college basketball, and as they hope to lead their prospective team’s to the championship.