Trailing by nine at halftime in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday night, the Kentucky Wildcats came together in just their third game with Mark Pope as head coach to rally and beat No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 77-72.
It’s a huge win for Kentucky, suggesting that this team’s potential is huge in Pope’s first season.
Here are eight observations from Tuesday night’s Champions Classic win for the Wildcats.
1. Watching the first three games of the season, one thing that’s been heavily focused on is the fact that Kentucky didn’t return any scoring, rebounding or assists from a season ago. This is a completely different roster than a season ago, and they already look like they’ve been playing together for at least a full season.
2. Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and the entire ESPN crew did a great job profiling what this Kentucky team has done to help this entirely new team play together on the court. They showed and talked about the number of bonding activities the players took part in during the offseason and leading up to the season. You never know just the kind of impact that those off-the-court bonding activities can have, and it’s clear this team is really making strides in playing together on the court.
3. I have a favorite player on this year’s team: Kerr Kriisa. Watching the replays of the first two games over the weekend, I was really impressed with the way Kriisa plays: Hard, tough, downhill, and smart. That’s a player worth getting behind. Kriisa has played a lot of College Basketball, including at Arizona, where he led the Pac-12 in assists in back-to-back seasons and ranks in the top 10 in Arizona history in 3-point field goals made. Even though Kriisa has just six points and two rebounds, his fire, and passion are going to be one of many things that carry the Wildcats far this season.
4. Andrew Carr was the best player on the floor for Kentucky. A veteran player with two years of experience at Delaware and Wake Forest, Carr came into Kentucky with over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 100 blocks in his career. With the game hanging in the balance Tuesday night, Carr took charge. He attacked the basket with a ferocious tenacity into the heart of the Duke’s defense. Carr finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists on Tuesday night.
5. Otega Oweh is emerging as the glue guy of this Wildcats team. On Tuesday night, it was his offensive rebound off a missed free throw that helped seal the Wildcats win. Oweh was 5/6 from the free-throw line, including two to go ahead in the final seconds and two more to clinch the win. He had 15 points and six rebounds plus three assists, a block, and a steal while going 2/3 from 3-point range. Oweh plays the game hard and smart, which is a great combination a player can have.
6. Cooper Flagg is as advertised. For a freshman, he was not afraid of this stage. Flagg had 26 points and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes on Tuesday night and proved the moment was not too big for him.
7. I love the way Lamont Butler fits in on this team. He’s the guy who’s been there before. After all, he had tremendous success at San Diego State. Butler is a veteran who knows how to handle almost any situation. He had nine points with three rebounds and four assists on Tuesday night.
8. Amari Williams is going to be one of the most overlooked players in college basketball. Williams led the Wildcats with eight rebounds on Tuesday night, in addition to 10 points. He does a lot of small things to help this Wildcats team, and it’s clearly showing on the court.
Here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky improves to 3-0 on the young season, while Duke falls to 2-1
- UK now leads the all-time series against the Blue Devils 13-11. It was the first win for the Cats against Duke since the Champions Classic matchup on Nov. 17, 2015, and snaps a two-game skid in the series
- Kentucky is now 6-8 in the Champions Classic and 2-3 against Duke in the event
- The Wildcats return to action Tuesday, Nov. 19 at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center against Lipscomb. The tip time is set for 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Team Notes
- Coach Mark Pope’s career record is now 190-108
- Pope is now 1-1 in his coaching career against Duke
- Kentucky trailed by nine at the half, but outscored the opposition 40-26 in the second half
- UK held Duke to 39 percent shooting from the field. They have held their opponent under 40 percent from the floor in all three games thus far this season
- The Kentucky bench scored 25 points, outscoring Duke’s reserves 25-6
- The game featured nine lead changes and seven ties
- Kentucky led for just 7:11 in the contest
- The Wildcats knocked down 10 threes on the night. They have reached double-digits in 3-pointers made in all three games this season
- UK was 17-of-24 from the charity stripe, the team’s most made free throws, and attempts, in a game this year
- The Wildcats blocked a season-high eight shots
Player Notes
- Andrew Carr was the leading scorer for Kentucky, finishing with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He also pitched in five boards and three assists
- Otega Oweh added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists and two steals. He has had multiple thefts in all three games this season
- Amari Williams led the team in rebounds for the third-straight game with eight boards
- Lamont Butler finished with a team-high four helpers
- Koby Brea went 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, giving him 12 made threes on 16 attempts for the season (.750)
- Brandon Garrison scored a season-high eight points, all eight of which came in the second half
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams.
- First substitution was Brandon Garrison at 16:53
- Duke jumped out to a 4-0 lead
- Kentucky drew even at 6-6 on a 3-pointer from Carr
- UK took its first lead at 9-8 on a 3-pointer from Oweh
- Duke led 11-9 at the first media timeout
- The Wildcats had their largest lead of the first half at 19-13 following a free throw from Jaxson Robinson
- Duke proceeded to go on a 6-0 spurt to knot the game at 19
- The teams continued to go back-and-forth before Duke would take the lead at 25-24 with 8:23 left in the first half
- Kentucky started 5-of-5 from 3-point range, but missed its next eight attempts before Brea broke the streak with a triple at 4:58
- Kentucky trailed 46-37 at the half, its first halftime deficit this season
- Amari Williams and Andrew Carr led Kentucky in the opening half with eight points apiece. Duke’s Cooper Flag and Kon Knueppel each had 12
- The Blue Devils had just one turnover in the opening 20 minutes
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup
- Kentucky opened the second half with a 5-0 run via a 3-pointer from Oweh and a basket by Williams
- Duke continued to maintain the advantage, stretching the lead back to eight on a 3-ball from Flagg with 10:21 remaining on the clock
- Kentucky cut the lead to one on a 3-pointer from Kriisa with 5:28 to go
- Carr tied the game at 67 with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:57 to play
- A layup by Oweh gave Kentucky the lead at 69-67, the Cats first advantage since they led 24-23 in the first half
- Duke responded with an “and-one” from Flagg to retake the lead at 70-69
- Kentucky came right back with a basket and a foul from Carr to put UK ahead 72-70
- A layup from Flagg tied the score back up at 72 apiece with 1:14 remaining
- A steal from Oweh, and a foul on the ensuing fast break, earned the Kentucky guard two free throws, which he hit to make the score 74-72
- Duke turned it over out of bounds on its next possession, leaving 5.5 seconds on the clock
- A long inbounds pass to Butler forced Duke to foul. Butler made the first free throw. He missed the second, but the miss was corralled by Oweh, who was then fouled.
- Oweh made both free throws to seal the 77-72 win
