Seven things you need to know from Kentucky basketball’s epic 77-72 win over Duke

Seven things you need to know from No. 19 Kentucky’s 77-72 win over No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic at State Farm Arena:

1. Mark Pope’s first signature win. In his initial “big game” as Kentucky head man, Pope gave UK only its third win over Duke in the past 12 meetings between the men’s college hoops blue bloods.

Pope’s in-game coaching played a big role in UK’s victory.

Making full use of his nine-man playing rotation, Pope and Kentucky wore down Duke’s youthful nucleus.

The Wildcats outscored the Blue Devils 16-7 in the game’s final 6:30 to rally from 65-61 down to victory.

Down the stretch, Pope found a favorable offensive matchup and worked it. Andrew Carr scored or assisted on seven straight Kentucky points from 3:57 through 1:19 as UK went from 67-64 down to 71-70 ahead.

A coach’s challenge by Pope overturned an out-of-bounds call that was giving the ball to Duke with 1:41 left in the game to regain a crucial possession for Kentucky.

Adding a win over Duke — a team the Big Blue Nation yearns to beat with fervency — in only his third game to the early recruiting success Pope has amassed continues what has been as close to an ideal start to a Kentucky coaching tenure as is imaginable.

2. Oweh? Oh yeah! Otega Oweh was huge for Kentucky in the final minute.

With the game tied at 72, the 6-foot-4 guard stole the ball from Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg with 12 seconds left.

Fouled by Kon Knueppel with 10.3 seconds left, Oweh coolly drained two free throws to put Kentucky up 74-72.

After Lamont Butler made the first of two free throws to put Kentucky up 75-72, he missed his second with five seconds still showing.

Oweh, however, rebounded the miss, was fouled, and hit two free throws of his own to ice the Kentucky victory.

3 The Kentucky offense vs. a power conference foe. UK entered the game having put up pin ball numbers against two overmatched foes.

The Wildcats were averaging 101.5 points a game going into the Champions Classic. With 53 assists on 77 made field goals in wins over Wright State and Bucknell, Kentucky entered Duke game with more dimes than any team in men’s NCAA college hoops.

The Wildcats came into the game averaging 30 3-point attempts a contest and were making 40% (24-for-60) of their treys and 53.5% of their shots (77-for-144) overall.

Against a long and athletic Duke roster, the Kentucky offensive joyride did not proceed unabated.

Yet in a game when Kentucky hit only 25 of 62 shots, missed seven free throws and turned the ball over 10 times, UK probably was more impressive offensively than it had been all year.

In a game with a fevered atmosphere on a big stage, it was Kentucky that executed possession-by-possession down the stretch.

4. Defending Cooper Flagg. The Duke freshman sensation went for 26 points and claimed 12 rebounds.

Yet Kentucky defended him vigorously.

The Wildcats started Andrew Carr on Flagg, and transitioned through Ansley Almonor, Koby Brea and Otega Oweh on the Duke star.

When Flagg posted up, UK at times ran double teams at the freshman with its post players, Amari Williams or Brandon Garrison.

Yet, down the stretch, the help defense of the 6-4 Oweh (see above) seemed to give Flagg the most trouble.

5. Kentucky all-time vs. Duke. With UK’s victory, the Wildcats now lead the series with the Blue Devils 13-11.

Kentucky went 2-7 vs. Mike Krzyzewski-coached Duke teams but is 11-4 against the Blue Devils when Duke is led by anyone other than Coach K.

6. The Champions Classic tally. Champions Classic sponsor ESPN and the four participating schools announced Tuesday that the annual men’s college basketball doubleheader has been extended through the 2028-29 season.

Next year’s Champions Classic will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 18, 2025. The other three scheduled dates for the Champions Classic are Nov. 10, 2026, Nov. 9, 2027, and Nov. 7, 2028. Sites for the latter three events will be announced at a later date.

The first Champions Classic was played on Nov. 15, 2011.

After the 77-69 win by No. 1 Kansas over Michigan State and Kentucky’s 77-72 upset of No. 6 Duke, the all-time Champions Classic standings are:

▪ Kansas 9-5.

▪ Duke 8-6.

▪ Kentucky 6-8.

▪ Michigan State 5-9.

By beating Duke, Kentucky snapped a four-game losing skid in the Champions Classic.

7. Cat-lanta rocks. Kentucky’s last two games in Atlanta have now yielded:

An 87-83 win over North Carolina in last season’s CBS Sports Classic.

A 77-72 win over Duke in the Champion’s Classic that gave Mark Pope a signature win in his third game as Kentucky coach.

If this keeps up, UK might explore playing its home games at the State Farm Arena.

Kentucky delivers with its defense in the final seconds. Cats upset No. 6 Duke in Atlanta.

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