The Duke Blue Devils (23-3, 15-1 ACC) are set to meet the Illinois Fighting Illini (17-10, 9-8 Big 10) tonight at Madison Square Garden (8:00pm ET, FOX).

Both squads are led by superstar freshmen who are both projected to be selected in the top five of this summer's upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, and the two prospects will face off against each other tonight.

Duke's Cooper Flagg and Illinois' Kasparus Jakucionis have been two of the best freshmen in college basketball all season, both able to light it up offensively.

Flagg is widely regarded as a shoe-in to be selected first overall in this summer's draft, averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.6 steals a game on 48.6% shooting from the field and 36.6% shooting from three point range. The freshman is also currently the frontrunner to win college basketball's National Player of the Year award this season.

Jakucious, out of Lithuania, has shown to be one of the best scorers in college basketball at times this season. He's averaging 15.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists a night on 46.9% shooting from the field and 33.9% shooting from the perimeter. The freshman has tallied 20 points or more in nine games this season.

Both players have the ability to score from anywhere on the floor and will be an elite matchup to watch tonight.

The two star freshmen also have other rookies in the backcourt with them, as Flagg has Kon Knueppel at his side and Jakucionis has Will Riley at his.

Knueppel has also been one of the best all-around freshmen in the nation this season and is widely regarded as a top ten pick in this summer's draft. His catch-and-shoot ability mixed with his potential to attack driving lanes makes him a big scoring threat at all times. He's also an elite defender on all thirds of the floor.

Riley alongside Jakucious makes the duo one of the best one-two scoring punches in the Big 10. Usually coming off of the bench for Brad Underwood, Riley plays a bit of an elevated Isaiah Evans type role, with the ability to get hot from anywhere on the floor.

"We're looking for an opponent, and Illinois obviously has a ton of talent...We went with it, found a date at the Garden, and I'm really happy we have it," Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said on The Field of 68: After Dark podcast. Because, like you said, it feels random, but I think it's just a wake-up call before March. This is exactly what you hope to be playing in against a big-time team in a tournament environment, and I think we're going to learn a ton from it."

The Blue Devils are 9.5-point favorites with a -500 moneyline tonight per ESPNBET.