By SAM LANCE
ATLANTA — When the game gets tight and pressure mounts, great teams typically come together and do whatever it takes to win. That’s exactly what Mark Pope and No. 19 Kentucky accomplished in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night, taking down No. 6 Duke 77-72.
Twice during the second half Kentucky was down by nine points. The Wildcats would make their run, and the Blue Devils would extend the lead right back out. But Kentucky never backed down.
“It was just sheer resolve and determination,” Pope, in his first season after taking over for Naismith Hall of Famer John Calipari, said postgame. “There was a lot of ebb and flow. The game almost swung away from us there in that first eight minutes of the second half, and then the guys kind of reeled it in, and it was close for us.”
The amazing thing about it is, this Kentucky team is completely new. With Pope getting the job in April, he had to scrape together a roster full of players from different backgrounds out of the portal. But just a few weeks into the season, we’re already seeing the bond that has been created in a short period of time.
“We really learned each other off the court,” Wake Forest transfer forward Andrew Carr said. “A lot of teams are able to say that, but it’s really cool being a part of a brand new team just because everybody didn’t know anybody else. Everybody had to have the same amount of effort to get to know and love and serve and care for your teammates in the same way because you didn’t know any of them. For us it was a really cool growing experience, and I feel like just because everybody had a concerted effort on it, it allowed us to really connect super quickly and get to know each other super quickly, and it translated right to the court.”
Carr was huge for Kentucky down the stretch. He had two major and-1 plays that gave the Wildcats momentum. His first one at the 3:57-mark tied the game at 67-67, and the second gave Kentucky a 72-70 lead with 1:49 to play. From there, the Wildcats closed it out, with some help from presumed No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg, who turned it over twice in a row down the stretch.
Overall, Carr finished with a team-high 17 points. Otega Oweh (15 points) and Amari Williams (10 points) were the other two Kentucky players in double-figures. Flagg had 26 points in the loss and was followed by Kon Knueppel (14 points) and Tyrese Proctor (12 points). Duke outscored Kentucky in the paint by 20 points but shot just 17% from deep compared to Kentucky’s 40% clip. This win is major for Pope in his first season at the helm of Kentucky. Big Blue Nation gave him quite the reception postgame, cheering loudly as he walked off the court. “We’re a pretty faithful group, and we get to learn that this isn’t really about us,” Pope said. “So I think the best part about all of us being able to acknowledge our fans in the stands is it’s just an extension of that. This is about us, it’s not about me. If Andrew has to carry around the burden of this being about him, it’s too big. If Otega has to carry around the burden of this being about him, it’s too big, and it’s actually not very rewarding. When it can be about us, that’s when it’s magic.” Pope concluded: “That’s the gospel. That’s life. This team has really adopted that. So getting to walk around and just acknowledge everybody, it’s like it’s us. It’s us. It’s these guys fighting on the floor. It’s all of BBN showing up. It’s a brilliant thing, and we get to be at the best place in the world to do it.” Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookCooper Flagg turned the ball over two possessions in a row late in regulation.
— ESPN (@espn) November 13, 2024
No. 19 Kentucky takes down No. 6 Duke 77-72‼️ pic.twitter.com/11fiwuov61
