ATLANTA, Ga. — No. 19 Kentucky men’s basketball stunned No. 6 Duke in the 2024 StateFarm Champions Classic from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday night, winning 77-72.
The result saw Head Coach Mark Pope face his first ranked opponent at Kentucky while also participating in his first ever Champions Classic, earning Kentucky’s first win in the event since 2019 and first win over Duke in the event since 2015.
Both teams entered the contest at 2-0 after Kentucky breezed by Bucknell and Wright State, never scoring fewer than 100 points, while Duke easily took care of business against Army and Maine.
Kentucky kicked off the game in a familiar way, marching out a starting lineup of Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams and Jaxson Robinson.
The Wildcats found themselves in an early hole as Duke jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Butler could nail the Cats’ first field goal.
The trailing would not become a trend, however, as the Cats gained the lead from an explosive 3-pointer from Kerr Kriisa and held it until nearly halfway through the first half.
Kentucky fans were treated to a variety of stars throughout the early goings with the likes of Brandon Garrison, Ansley Almonor, Kriisa, Koby Brea and Collin Chandler all checking into the contest.
Despite the variety, an untimely scoring drought of over two minutes allowed for a 7-0 Blue Devil run that was capped off by a Cooper Flagg lay-in to force Pope into a timeout.
Unfortunately for the traveling Wildcat fans in attendance, things would get worse from there as Kentucky would go just 2-11 from the field to allow Duke to reach a seven-point lead, the largest of the night up to that point.
While UK would drain a few shots to get back into it, another scoring drought, this time lasting nearly 3.5 minutes to close the half, saw Duke have an opportunity to lead by double digits at the halfway point. Luckily for the traveling members of Big Blue Nation, this attempt was unsuccessful, making the difference nine at the end of half one.
Back out for the second half, Kentucky started hot, outscoring Duke 5-0 to get right back into the contest. Despite that, the deficit allowed the Blue Devils to maintain their lead and, once baskets began falling again, the Wildcats still found themselves trailing by multiple baskets.
While Duke maintained a healthy lead for much of the first half of the second half, momentum seemed to finally shift in the Cats’ favor as Duke went on a two-minute scoring drought to allow UK to get back within one score following an and-one by Butler.
Kentucky would continue to hang around as the Blue Devils shot 2-11 to allow for a 61-57 score with just under eight-and-a-half minutes to play.
The Duke lead would then shrink to its lowest total in over a full half’s worth of play as a layup by Garrison got the Cats back within two.
While Kentucky failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities to steal the lead, it was instead presented the tie on a silver platter as Carr was fouled for an and-one play that made it 67-67 with just under four minutes to play.
The Cats then did something even more miraculous and took the lead 69-67 with just over two-and-a-half minutes to play.
While Duke would reclaim the advantage with an and-one play, Kentucky did the same, taking a lead once again.
Duke would tie it back up with under a minute remaining, but Kentucky would stand tall with a steal by Oweh. He would then make his free throws to take a lead UK would ultimately use to win the game and earn Pope’s first ever ranked win with the Wildcats as head coach.
Kentucky will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 19, after a one-week break. The Wildcats will face off with the Lipscomb Bison inside Rupp Arena with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The contest will air live on the SEC Network+.
