Simply three days after former Kentucky coach John Calipari guided a crew that solely took 20 3-pointers, and made a mere 5 of them, in a neutral-court loss to a Massive 12 crew that had simply misplaced to a West Coast Convention opponent by 38 factors, Mark Pope’s Wildcats got here out firing Tuesday evening.
Seven of UK’s first 12 pictures have been 3-pointers.
5 of them went in.
Abruptly, the identical fanbase that spent most of final season pissed off whereas watching one-and-done top-10 picks Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham come off of the bench for a crew that finally misplaced to Oakland within the first spherical of the 2024 NCAA Event was turning Atlanta’s State Farm Enviornment into what old-head UK followers will keep in mind as “Catlanta,” the nickname as soon as given to town when Wildcat supporters would overwhelm the place throughout SEC Tournaments conquered.
Ultimate rating: Kentucky 77, Duke 72.
So, simply 9 days, and three video games, into his first season teaching his alma mater, Pope already has a signature victory over a blue blood program. It is a large one which represents the primary time Kentucky has topped Duke since 2015. It snapped UK’s four-game shedding streak within the Champions Basic.聽
CBS Sports activities
And maybe probably the most encouraging facet of it for Kentucky followers is that I do not assume many watched it and left with the impression that the Wildcats even performed all that properly. They have been up and down. They trailed by 10 factors. However there was a transparent goal to the whole lot they did, a smart method to the matchup, and sufficient composure down the stretch to benefit from a Duke crew that was clearly extra proficient, however method youthful, and ill-equipped to take care of an older group that seemed stronger and extra collectively.
“I am actually happy with our guys,” Pope stated throughout his televised postgame interview. “Our first half was just a little shaky. We had quite a lot of issues that felt just a little bizarre tonight. However they’re simply preventing spirits that simply proceed to come back by — and I do know that sounds so cliche, however these video games, when you will have two nice groups going towards one another, it comes right down to the connective tissue of the crew. And it comes right down to, like, all of the little additional stuff. And our guys simply stored battling. I used to be most happy with their resilience with their emotion. Their emotion was extremely resilient. All people on the roster contributed. And so, Otega [Oweh] makes an enormous play [in the final seconds]. In reality, we talked about it on the ground. I instructed him, ‘It is time so that you can make a big-time defensive play.’ And he delivered like he usually does.”
Boy, did he ever. Twice, actually.
The massive performs sealed the victory and appropriately summarized the closing minutes of the sport that noticed Duke freshman Kon Knueppel struggling from the sphere (5-of-20), Duke freshman Khaman Maluach battling cramps and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg flip the ball over twice within the last 15 seconds. The primary large play from Oweh concerned him serving to on Flagg and taking the ball with 14.1 seconds remaining, resulting in a transition alternative, a foul and two made free throws that made it 74-72, Duke, with 10.1 seconds remaining. After that, Flagg turned it over once more, resulting in a fast foul that introduced Kentucky’s Lamont Butler, a switch from San Diego State who hit probably the most memorable shot of the 2023 NCAA Event, to the free throw line with 5.1 seconds left. He made the primary to push the result in 75-72 however missed the second, giving Duke life — so long as the Blue Devils secured the rebound.
They did not, although.
Oweh, as soon as once more, made an enormous play by pushing Flagg, the projected No. 1 decide of the 2025 NBA Draft, below the aim and securing the offensive rebound. The sport ended on that sequence — a sequence that served as a reminder that as nice as Flagg is, and do not let the late turnovers make you overlook that he completed with 26 factors and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes, he is nonetheless only a 17 year-old who will not flip 18 till 4 days earlier than Christmas.
Flagg is, and can be, terrific. Duke is, and can be, nice.
However Tuesday evening wasn’t about Flagg stumbling within the last seconds, or Duke squandering a double-digit lead, as a lot because it was about Pope placing his stamp on this system he helped win the nationwide championship as a participant in April 1996 earlier than taking on because the coach in April 2024 after Calipari left below strain for Arkansas. Pope, beforehand the coach at聽BYU, wasn’t UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s first alternative, nor ought to he have been. However, for some time now, Pope has felt just like the good alternative to guide Massive Blue Nation.
He inherited nothing from Calipari.
He began from scratch.
However Pope has already gained the hearts and minds of the fanbase — largely as a result of he is shortly constructed a reliable crew that is enjoyable to observe and straightforward to root for, but in addition as a result of he is achieved all of it whereas going out of his solution to make the in-state media and diehard supporters really feel like they matter once more.
Backside line, Mark Pope has simply been actually, actually good and good each step of the best way.
He earned the Tuesday evening he lived.
And, if I have been guessing, even larger days are on the best way.
