The No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats faced off against their biggest test this season as they headed to Atlanta for a matchup against the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils in this year’s Champions Classic.
In what was a back-and-forth affair all night, it was the Cats who came away victorious, 77-72.
The first half was incredibly sloppy for this UK team, as the arena was juiced up for such a huge matchup. With a team full of shooters that helped set the pace of this matchup, but around the 10-minute mark, this Duke squad turned up the defensive intensity.
As the intensity turned up, so did the UK turnovers, which put them in a nine-point hole heading into the half.
Despite several moments where it felt like the Cats were on the rope, this UK team continued to fight. Even taking their first lead since early in the first half in the final two minutes of this game, the Cats gave Duke all they could take. Even enough so, they picked up a huge win in tonight’s marquee matchup.
If you missed the matchup tonight, let’s take a look at four things to know after tonight’s win.
Duke freshmen are legit
The storyline heading into this matchup was the talent level of these Duke freshmen. Cooper Flagg is really good, and Konn Knueppel is also a stud. Add that in with some of the veteran players they have in the back-court and the front-court, and this Blue Devil squad is going to be quite good.
Despite that, this Kentucky team stuck right with them. You could see how legit Flagg and Knueppel were early, but it should make BBN happy that this UK team is only going to get better going forward.
If Kentucky makes a deep NCAA Tournament run, Duke has a real chance of standing in the way at some point.
Andrew Carr shines on big stage
Andrew Carr came into this season with high expectations. Expected to be one of the team’s leading scorers, Carr answered the bell this evening against Duke.
Flashing his three level scoring ability, Carr is a major reason this UK team kept right in this matchup and will continue to play a huge role down this season. Without Carr, this one turns ugly fast.
If he can continue to grow on both ends of the floor, then I think the BBN will have to be excited about the potential of this team.
Jaxson Robinson has a quiet night
Carr had a busy night, but Jaxson Robinson’s night was fairly quiet.
Duke made it fairly obvious that they were going to make anyone other than Robinson beat them, as Robinson took less than five shots on the night.
I wouldn’t expect this to happen much, folks, but it could be noteworthy if this becomes a trend for how this season could go. Winning a game like this with its best player doing almost nothing is a great sign for Kentucky moving forward.
Mark Pope gets it done
Enjoy this one BBN, it has been a long time coming, and it’s the perfect way to usher in the Mark Pope era.
Pope has proven he can rally the fanbase.
Pope has shown he can recruit at a high level.
Now, Pope has shown he can win on the biggest stage against elite teams.
Not only is it the Cats’ first Champions Classic win in four years, it’s their first win over Duke since 2015. This one is sweet. Let’s celebrate the crap out of this one.
Go CATS!
