Jaxson Robinson shows his scoring power in Kentucky’s latest win. But he’s more than that.

A topic of conversation immediately after Kentucky’s upset victory over Duke in the Champions Classic last week? The offensive struggles of Jaxson Robinson, who missed all four shots he took and scored only one point in 27 minutes on the court.

Mark Pope was asked about Robinson’s tough night on the big stage twice immediately after the game — both in the context of other Wildcats stepping up in his scoring absence — but the UK basketball coach made it crystal clear then that he had no worries at all.

A week later, Robinson turned in his best offensive performance as a Kentucky Wildcat.

The BYU transfer tallied a team-high 20 points in UK’s 97-68 victory over Lipscomb on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena, scoring all of those points before the first TV timeout of the second half and showing once again why he’s such a “dangerous man” — as Pope put it — with the ball in his hands.

This night started out slow for Robinson, too. He missed his first two shots, aggressive from the opening tip. Right after his second miss, he let loose again from 3-point range. That one went in. In fact, after those first two misfires, the next eight balls that Robinson sent at the rim all passed through the bottom of the net before returning to the court.

There were two 3-pointers and a shot in the paint. Then five straight free throws. To get to the line for the final two in that flurry, Robinson crossed up a Lipscomb defender on the perimeter — shaking him so far off to the side that it drew audible gasps from the Rupp crowd — before driving at the basket and drawing the foul.

He had 13 points by halftime and scored seven more in the first five minutes of the second half before taking a seat for good with 12:53 left, the Cats up 25 points on their guests.

If there was any angst over Robinson’s offensive showing against Duke a week earlier, it was unwarranted. This is a guy who’s just a couple of weeks away from turning 22 years old, after all. A player with a proven track record of scoring at the highest level of college basketball. Not some freshman just out of high school.

“I mean, I’ve been doing it for a while,” Robinson said. “It’s my fifth year. I know one game doesn’t define me. So just making sure that I come out with good energy. I felt like there were a couple times where I showed my frustration last game. So just making sure that I come out and be a good teammate, that’s really all it is.”

If Robinson was discouraged about anything in the immediate aftermath of last week’s game, it was his body language when those shots didn’t go down.

“I felt like everybody felt my frustration after the game,” he said. “Obviously, I was happy that we won. It was a great win — biggest win in my career, personally. … But just being the leader that I am, especially trying to step into that role this year, I just wanted to play better for my team. That was it.”

His teammates knew he wanted those shots to fall against Duke, but they also knew those shots would fall eventually. Robinson averaged just 7.7 points through his first three games as a Wildcat after leading BYU with 14.2 points per game last season under Pope, who praised his longtime pupil for the effect he had on the game in other ways following the win over Duke.

“Come on, that’s a dangerous man,” he said then. “That’s a really dangerous man.”

Two days later, Pope was on the podium back in Lexington, having gone over video of the Champions Classic victory, even more energetic about Robinson’s performance after seeing the tape. “He played great. Like, he made huge defensive plays down the stretch.”

Pope noted that the UK coaches keep a stat of “points given up” and Robinson was responsible for surrendering only two in the 77-72 victory. “You think about the matchups that he had, he was actually elite. … I was incredibly proud of him.”

After the win over Lipscomb, the UK coach returned to that talking point.

“I’m so impressed with Jaxson Robinson,” Pope said. “What’s really interesting is he had a terrific game against Duke. That’s the weird part is he actually played really well. He came up with massive defensive stops down the stretch that were game-determining stops that we really needed.”

Pope also talked about the growth that he’s seen in the two and a half years that he’s known Robinson, who has acknowledged that he showed up at BYU back then — after two disappointing seasons at Texas A&M and Arkansas — in need of a fresh start but slow to trust those around him.

Over time, he let down his guard. And when it came time to make a decision on his college basketball future this past offseason, there was no question he’d follow Pope to UK.

As he rewatched the Duke game, Robinson started to realize the positive role he played in the victory. He hadn’t let his teammates down, after all. “The missed shots, it was hard to think about (anything else) in the moment,” he said. “But going back and watching the film and talking to the coaches, my teammates — I feel that way.”

And even his body language — the thing that Robinson was most disappointed by after the fact — was praised by those in the locker room.

“I didn’t really notice,” starting point guard Lamont Butler said Tuesday night. “I knew he was frustrated with himself. I mean, you know, he’s a high-level scorer. He didn’t really score much, but he was very active in the huddles, talking a lot defensively. He was great. … I think he was probably harder on himself than everybody else was.”

A few minutes earlier, Pope said he recalled seeing photos of the Duke game in the days that followed. Some of his favorites featured Robinson’s spirited reactions after his teammates made key offensive plays.

“Andrew Carr gets an and-one, and Jax is like the first guy to be there, just like screaming, and his veins are popping out of his neck, and every bit of emotion is there,” Pope said. “And the ability that he has as a veteran player, to stay in the moment in the game and care about his teammates and still perform at a great level defensively, even when he’s not putting up 20 or 30 (points) is massive. It’s just what you dream about coaching, right? It’s going to serve him well this year. It’s going to serve him great in the NBA.”

Robinson has made defense a personal point of emphasis this season at Kentucky, his last as a college player. NBA teams know he can score. They want to see what he can do on the other side of the ball.

“I mean, that’s how I’m gonna get paid,” he said. “So just making sure that I go out and produce on the defensive end. It’s as simple as that.”

A few moments later, Pope walked by Robinson and whispered a chant: “Defense, defense,” said the coach, with a smile. Robinson smiled back at him.

Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff marveled at the offensive depth of this Kentucky team. Butler had 16 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts. Koby Brea scored 12 and also went 3-for-3 from deep. “I’ll tell you what: if Butler, Robinson, and Brea play like that, they’re going to be a tough, tough, tough out,” he said.

Acuff — in his sixth season in charge of the Bisons — also proclaimed this UK team to be the best offensive bunch he’d faced in his current job. He praised the Wildcats’ defense, too.

“I know what basketball means in the state of Kentucky, and you’re gonna have a team that’s gonna be fun to cheer for, I’ll tell you that,” Acuff said.

Robinson became the fourth player in four games to lead the Cats in scoring. There are now six UK players averaging double figures in the points column. Just about anybody in Pope’s rotation can beat you on any given night, no matter what they might’ve done the game before.

“So it doesn’t always have to be (that) you’re the leading scorer of the team,” Robinson said. “You don’t get all the publicity. You’re not plastered all over social media. But that’s what makes this team different. That’s what makes us Kentucky. We feel like as long as we’re all together, it doesn’t matter who shines. We just want to go out and win a championship.”

Pope wasn’t there to hear that portion of Robinson’s interview, but — after spending the past two and half years around him — it’s unlikely he would have been surprised by those words.

“It’s been really inspiring to be able to witness his growth,” Pope said. “I don’t know how many times we’re going to get to coach players for three years anymore, but it’s been unbelievable to be able to coach him for two years and four games. And I love it. I’m really proud of him.”

Kentucky rolls again in return to Rupp Arena. Pope’s Cats beat Lipscomb by 29 points.

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