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Stock up, stock down from Duke’s championship at the 2K Empire Classic

By Kevin Connelly

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 22: Wendell Moore Jr. #0 of the Duke Blue Devils goes in for a layup past Josh LeBlanc #23 of the Georgetown Hoyas during the second half of their game at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 22: Wendell Moore Jr. #0 of the Duke Blue Devils goes in for a layup past Josh LeBlanc #23 of the Georgetown Hoyas during the second half of their game at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 22: Tre Jones #3 smiles at Joey Baker #13 of the Duke Blue Devils after a 81-73 win over the Georgetown Hoyas for the 2K Empire Classic tournament trophy at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 22: Tre Jones #3 smiles at Joey Baker #13 of the Duke Blue Devils after a 81-73 win over the Georgetown Hoyas for the 2K Empire Classic tournament trophy at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

The Duke Basketball team won its first championship of the 2019-20 season in New York City over the weekend at the 2K Empire Classic and the Blue Devils saw several players step up and play well.

Two victories in two days for the No. 1 ranked Duke Blue Devils in its second trip to Madison Square Garden in the early season.

The Blue Devils improved to 3-0 in The World’s Most Famous Arena after a win over then No. 3 Kansas in the Champions Classic to open the season on November 5 followed by the victories over the California Golden Bears and the Georgetown Hoyas on Thursday and Friday.

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Sitting at 6-0 on the season, the Blue Devils are on the throne of college basketball and will have some breathing room over Thanksgiving week, hosting Stephen F. Austin and Winthrop before the best battle against the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing on December 3.

However, before Duke can look ahead, we take a look back at the 2K Empire Classic to see which Blue Devils exceeded expectations and which ones fell short of those expectations.

There were three players named to the 2K Empire Classic All-Tournament Team from the Champions in Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Jr., and Cassius Stanley as the big man from Florida, Carey Jr., was named as the MVP of the tournament.

Duke’s weekend started with a slow start in its Thursday night 87-52 victory over Cal and after dominating the Golden Bears for the final 30 minutes of the game, it was almost the same thing on Friday night.

Georgetown came out of the gates hot on Duke, opening up a 10-point lead in the first half, but much like the night previous, the Blue Devils were able to claw back into the game, tying the game before halftime and then stepping on the throats of the Hoyas in the second half.

Duke defeated Georgetown and won the championship of the 2K Empire Classic, 81-73, but the focus is on who was able to step up and give the Blue Devils that championship.

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