Duke and Kansas played a heavyweight match on Tuesday night in Las Vegas and while No. 1 Kansas won 75-72, Duke also won.

It will just take longer to realize what the Blue Devils accomplished in Sin City.

Kansas is a really good and smart basketball team. They have three players who really push the team forward – Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris. Of course, there are other important Jayhawks, but these three are really the big sellers. And they do it in a pleasant way.

Kansas started red-hot, shooting 80 percent at times in the first half, but as the commentators correctly understood, that wasn’t to last, and Duke also started taking some shots. And that’s what happened. Duke fell behind 16-3 early, but fought its way back into the game and tied the game at 32-32 with 3:37 left in the first half.

Kansas made it clear that they would aggressively defend Duke’s freshman phenom, double-teaming him frequently in the first half.

But as Duke began to find the open shooters, Kansas had to abandon that strategy. Flagg didn’t have a phenomenal offensive game, but he wasn’t completely suppressed either.

Kansas pushed itself back into the lead after halftime, but couldn’t dominate Duke like it had in the first few minutes. Duke pushed back and the game went back and forth the rest of the way, thanks in no small part to the determined play of Maliq Brown and Sion James and, to a lesser extent, Mason Gillis. The experienced transfers have really helped Duke maintain balance during some tough stretches.

Ultimately, Duke failed in the end despite their outstanding contributions and some very good plays from Tyrese Proctor. Cooper Flagg, who turned the ball over twice late against Kentucky, spun into traffic late and was taken out of the game. It reminded us of Kyle Filipowski as a freshman. He has one of the fastest spin moves we’ve ever seen, but he kept spinning into the guards. He learned and so will Flagg.

Duke didn’t necessarily handle the winning time well. Flagg had his turnover and then Kon Knueppel had one too as he drove and took off from the ground with no where to go.

Khaman Maluach brought Rylan Griffen to the line with :02 left and he made both free throws to give KU a 75-72 lead. Duke brought the ball across the midfield line and immediately called a timeout, and Jon Scheyer designed a play that gave Knueppel a clear look at a three-pointer that would have tied the game. However, it faded out and that’s it.

However, there were many positive aspects. The younger Devils – Flagg, Maluach and Knueppel – got to experience what it was like to play against a physical, older team. Dickinson in particular taught Maluach, sometimes tossing him around like a rag doll. Flagg and Knueppel also took some recordings. Nothing dirty, mind you (except Dickinson’s headshot), just some tough basketball. Sooner or later they have to learn to deal with it, so sooner is better.

Flagg eventually figured out how to do it and finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Knueppel was shot 0-8 from three-point range but still managed 11 points and eight assists. He didn’t shoot well, but he competed. And while Brown towered over Maluach for most of the game, Maluach didn’t stop competing.

And don’t overlook the veterans: Proctor shot 5-7 from deep and had six rebounds. Brown was sensational at times on defense, James was all-around tough and Gillis was reliable and smart.

In short, this is not the worst loss in the world. A team with three freshmen brought the No. 1 team in the country to the start. Kansas was better on Tuesday, but the Jayhawks are an older, more experienced team.

Duke needs games like this to gain its own experience. The defeat was obviously disappointing, but not the effort. The mistakes were disappointing, but as the season progresses they become less frequent. Duke’s future remains incredibly bright.