Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win against Duke in the Champions Classic

Three takeaways from Kentucky’s 77-72 win against the Duke Blue Devils in college basketball’s Champions Classic on Tuesday night at State Farm Arena.

1. The old guys are all right

In the blink of an eye, Kentucky basketball has gone from one-and-done to a four-or-more-and-we’re-not-done-yet. Not by a long shot.

Experience does matter. And it mattered Tuesday night down the stretch when Mark Pope’s graybeards made play after play, rallying the Cats from a 10-point first-half hole and a second-half deficit of nine points with 13:37 to play, six points with 7:33 left and three points with 4:18 remaining.

In fact, Kentucky did not take the lead in the second half until Andrew Carr’s old-fashioned three-point play with 1:49 left made it 72-70 with 1:02 left.

Then after Duke knotted matters again at 72 on a Cooper Flagg basket at the 1:12 mark, it was UK’s Otega Oweh who stole the ball from Flagg on Duke’s next possession. Not only did Oweh race down the floor, he drew a foul and promptly made both free throws with 10.3 seconds remaining to make it 74-72 Cats.

“One, give Kentucky credit for the plays they’ve made,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the loss. “I think they showed incredible maturity, and their experience came out in that second half, no question.”

Remember, Carr is the old guy from Wake Forest who had competed against the Blue Devils several times as a Demon Deacon. Oweh is the old guy from Oklahoma who had played in 60 games as a Sooner before signing up to be a part of Pope’s completely new team.

Carr finished with 17 points. Oweh added 15. Another old guy, center Amari Williams, scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Old guy Lamont Butler dished four assists.

All those players had made plays as college players before they even arrived at Kentucky.

“I would just say, you wear Kentucky on your chest, and you have to carry yourself a certain way,” Oweh said. “You know you’re not just playing for yourself. You’re playing for a whole nation. You’re playing for your brothers. It’s a dream to play for Kentucky. The fact that I’m here, the fact that AC (Andrew Carr) is here, I know it just makes everyone play harder. Obviously, just wearing a Kentucky jersey definitely makes you want to go out there and play.”

2. Kentucky made winning adjustments

Two adjustments in particular led to the win.

Duke led 46-37 at the half after making just 3 of 12 3-point shots, but it was 15-for-25 on 2-pointers. That added up to an 18-for-37 overall showing from the floor for 49%.

“We gave up 46 points in the first half,” Pope said. “That’s not characteristic of us.”

Here’s the thing: Pope said that at halftime, the players had already started fixing things before the head coach had arrived in the locker room. That’s another sign of maturity. And, as Pope has said before, experienced players can start making adjustments on their own. They don’t always have to look to the bench. They know what to do.

And what Kentucky did in the second half worked. Duke cooled off considerably. The Blue Devils were just 10-for-34 from the field over the final 20 minutes for 29%. They were 1-for-11 on 3-point attempts. They scored five points over the game’s final 4:17.

The second adjustment was on the offensive end. Williams is UK’s starting center. Brandon Garrison is his backup. Both play considerable minutes at the 5 spot. But late in the game, Pope moved Carr, the 6-foot-11 forward, to the 5.

It worked. Carr’s patience and mobility in and around the basket allowed him to tie the game at 67 on an and-one with 3:57 remaining, and then with another and-one that gave the Cats that 72-70 lead with 1:49 left.

“Those are two big plays, the finishes down the stretch,” Scheyer said. “Give him credit. He’s got good size and does a good job inside. But that’s where the details matter, and we’re going to grow from that.”

“Whether it’s going to be Otega and me and Amari tonight, it’s going to be someone else, Brandon and Jaxson (Robinson) and Kerr (Krissa) the next night, and that’s what really makes our team super special,” Carr said. “So when you’re able to surround yourself on a team that Otega talked about, that means that much with amazing people and super talented basketball players, you really trust your teammates and it becomes really special.”

3. Kentucky made a statement

There has been a lot of curiosity about this Kentucky men’s basketball team. It’s Kentucky basketball, for one thing. But it’s also something new, with Pope as coach and a brand-new group of players.

How would they fit? How would they play? How would they play together? Specifically, in this game, could they hold their own against a Duke team that featured the heralded Flagg, a pair of other terrific freshman starters in Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, plus an experienced supporting cast?

Turned out, they did better than hold their own. For one thing, they took on the personality of their coach, who was known for being a relentless competitor during his playing days at Kentucky. Pope was so relentless, that teammate Antoine Walker used to beg head coach Rick Pitino to have someone else guard him in practice.

“We’re just going to keep coming at you guys,” Carr said afterward. “We’re going to keep coming at you guys throughout the game over and over and over again until we go on that run or come back and are able to make an impact on the game.”

This brand-new Kentucky basketball team has already made an impact. And it’s just getting started.

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Box score from No. 19 Kentucky basketball’s 77-72 Champions Classic win over No. 6 Duke

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