How the Cats were able to play spoiler in the Champions Classic.
In just the third game of the Mark Pope era, the Kentucky Wildcats put the whole college basketball world on notice as they toppled the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 77-72 in an instant classic on Tuesday night.
This was the first win for the Cats in the Champions Classic since 2019 (they had lost the last four, including six of their last seven there). Kentucky is also 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 2016.
The Wildcats were led by forward Andrew Carr, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Guard Otega Oweh also finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists while grabbing the most crucial offensive rebound off a missed free throw in the final seconds, which resulted in the Wildcat victory.
The Pope era couldn’t have gotten off to a better start than it has through three games, and at this moment, it’s a much-needed breath of fresh air for the BBN faithful.
How did this veteran-led Kentucky squad pull this off? Let’s dive into how it unfolded.
Production off the bench
The Wildcats had a 25-6 advantage in bench scoring as Brandon Garrison and Kerr Kriisa played pivotal roles in that area. Kriisa’s late 3 with five minutes left in the game that cut the Duke lead to one was huge, and Garrison’s eight points off the bench was also key throughout the night. Although Koby Brea was limited to eight points on the night, he hit 2/4 3s. One was the start of the second-half surge that led the Wildcats to victory.
Limited turnovers after halftime/defensive intensity
Kentucky went into halftime down by nine, and one of the main reasons was the seven turnovers to Duke’s one. That completely changed in the second half, as the Wildcats committed just three while turning the Blue Devils over six times and held them to just 26 points. Kentucky held them to 29.4% shooting in the second half and 39.4% for the game.
Two of the six Duke turnovers involved Cooper Flagg in the final seconds on two separate occasions as he was turned over by Otega Oweh and Amari Williams. Kentucky also had their season high in blocks (eight).
Andrew Carr
Carr was the best player on the floor for the Wildcats Tuesday night, finishing with 17 points and five rebounds. The Wake Forest graduate transfer also had probably two of the most important moments of the game in the final minutes: He scored an and-1, which tied the game, then scored another and-1 over Duke center Khaman Maluach to give the Cats a two-point lead with a little under two minutes left.
Experience
In the past, the Cats have often fallen short in close games with freshman talent, but they were on the opposite side of the experience coin Tuesday night. Going into halftime, everything seemed to be headed in the wrong direction, as the Cats were stagnant on the offensive end and continuously bothered by Duke’s length and athleticism.
This veteran-led group bounced back in a major way in the second half, especially in the final minutes of the game, and proved that, on this night, experienced outweighed talent.
The Wildcats’ game-winning plays down the stretch included a crucial steal by Oweh on freshman sensation Flagg that led to two free throws to give the Cats a two-point lead in the final seconds and included Amari Williams pressuring Cooper Flagg on the the other end the very next Duke possession that led to another Duke turnover.
Lastly, after Butler missed a free throw, Oweh captured the offensive rebound, which turned out to be the most important rebound of the game and clinched the massive victory.