By Jordan Ondrof and Josh Ellis

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UK Alumni defeated North Carolina Alumni 122-115 behind a valiant effort from DeMarcus Cousins Sunday night, however there was arguably no bigger winner than the 17 different charities who will benefit from the $1.5 million raised.

A reunion for some older players and a homecoming for the recently departed, UK fans welcomed their alumni with open arms.

The crowd treated the game as if the score mattered, cheering at every basket, booing at foul calls with which they disagreed.

The energy was the same but one notable sound was missing. Head coach John Calipari was not up and screaming at his players. He was instead sitting on the end of the bench, chatting with former players and laughing every time Cousins shot a three.

Taking on the coaching role was Anthony Davis, who reveled in his new position, drawing up plays on a whiteboard as his team huddled around him. Some even thought he might give Calipari a run for his money when it came to coaching.

“We will win every game with coach Davis out there. After tonight’s performance he may be coming be coming for coach Cal’s game real soon,” said UK Alum Terrence Jones.

Calipari, on the other hand, had a different opinion of Davis’ coaching abilities.

“He stunk,” Calipari said. “I was hoping they got beat because they were up by 30 and (UNC) got it to six. I’m watching them down here like ‘You like that huh? Coaching isn’t easy.’”

Cousins made Davis’ job a whole lot easier scoring 33 points, including five three-pointers. Showing he can do more than dunk, Cousins even drained a 3 from the ‘K’ on center court.

The Sacramento King power forward also flourished when he wasn’t scoring, grabbing 18 rebounds and dishing out six assists on the night, leading the Cats in all three categories.

Despite his 33-point performance, Cousins was not the game’s leading scorer. North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes took that moniker as he dropped 39 points in attempt to lead a UNC comeback.

North Carolina only led for a mere 33 seconds early in the first half, and were held off late in the second half despite their battle back to cut the deficit to six points.

Calipari was honored at half time by current and former players, presented with a mosaic full of pictures of every player he has coached in his 23-year coaching career.

The first charity game in 2014 raised $350,000. This year’s game trumped that number, raising over $1.1 million. Calipari is considering having the game at UNC next year.

“Let me praise North Carolina. Obviously, some of the guys weren’t able to come, but they played. And Harrison Barnes wants us to go back there next year, which we may do. It may be something we do. We take our team to North Carolina and do the same thing and raise money for charity that way.”