ATLANTA — Kentucky has a coach with a clipboard who knows how to use it. New Wildcats head man Mark Pope made all the right decisions down the stretch of a 77-72 win over No. 6 Duke that will have Big Blue Nation falling even further in love with him.
Late in the back-and-forth nightcap to the Champions Classic, Pope out-schemed his counterpart Jon Scheyer, who was a little too reliant on Cooper Flagg. Duke’s much-hyped freshman had flashes of brilliance in a 26-point performance but committed two turnovers on isolation plays in the final minute that helped Kentucky complete their comeback. The Wildcats trailed by nine at the half and with less than three minutes to play took their first lead since the score was in the 20s.
Pope, meanwhile, went to a small-ball lineup for the first time, using forward Andrew Carr to take advantage of Duke’s centers in the middle of the floor. Carr, who spent the last two seasons at Wake Forest, finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, calmly making smart play after smart play in the clutch.
Kentucky’s five-out offense generated good looks for much of the night, executing a clear gameplan to try to take advantage of Duke’s 7-foot-2 freshman center Khaman Maluach. Kentucky center Amari Williams usually got to where he wanted to go but struggled to finish at the basket and shot just 3 of 12 from the field. Pope’s decision to move Carr to center may have won him the game and provided an early sign that Kentucky ended its eventful search to replace John Calipari with a smart coach who knows how to put his best players in spots to be successful.
Cooper Flagg’s night
Flagg is as good as advertised, and Scheyer was creative in how he utilized him in the middle of the floor, using just about everyone to set ball screens for him and get Flagg favorable matchups. It was puzzling why Scheyer didn’t set Flagg a ball screen coming out of a timeout with 26 seconds left and the game tied at 72. Instead, Duke ran multiple ghost screens for Flagg to try to create space and let him go one-on-one. Otega Oweh made the play of the game, helping on Flagg and coming up with the steal that led to the free throws that put Kentucky ahead for good.
Kentucky’s portal pickups come up huge on D
Pope is known for spreading the floor with shooters, and he targeted those in the portal to fill out his first Wildcats roster, but he also went and got two tough, defensive-minded guards in Lamont Butler and Oweh, and those guards were two of Kentucky’s MVPs on this night. Oweh filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. He was also first to several key loose balls. Butler had more modest numbers — nine points, three rebounds and four assists — but he played stellar defense and put pressure on the rim in transition. His and-one in transition with 11:18 left cut Duke’s lead to three just when it looked like Duke was starting to take control.
What’s next for Duke?
The Blue Devils are going to a have a very good season, especially when they get more efficient scoring games from freshman Kon Knueppel. Knueppel missed a lot of shots he usually makes, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting. He got to the basket but missed some makable layups, and his jumper wasn’t falling, either. His struggles almost forced Scheyer to go to Flagg too much down the stretch.
Duke will be at its best when it’s more balanced. Tyrese Proctor, who finished with 12 points, was good early but disappeared late. Duke became predictable down the stretch, but in a couple months Duke will probably have a better idea what to run in this type of game and how to get its best players in spots to score. Duke showed its age late, but there were flashes of why this freshman class was so hyped.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
