Cats stay tough at 3-point shooting, heart

by Junna Base November 13, 2024

ATLANTA – Kentucky coach Mark Pope doesn’t have the luxury of high-end talent and multiple NBA draft picks on his roster. That was clear when Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, spun, crossed and scored past British defenders en route to a game-high 26 points.

These elite players are sure to flock to Lexington in the traditional way to make Great Britain a basketball blueblood. But right now Pope doesn’t need her; He has put together a squad.

That, too, was very evident when the Wildcats rallied from a 10-point deficit against Duke at State Farm Arena on Tuesday in the Champions Classic to claim a 77-72 win.

Whatever concerns British fans had after John Calipari moved his show to Arkansas after 15 seasons and Baylor’s Scott Drew turned down the chance to succeed him can be buried deep in the dark.

Like the kind you pay for and forget it’s there.

Pope just posted the biggest regular season win of any rookie coach taking over comparable programs.

Duke’s Jon Scheyer lost to Kansas in his first season after replacing Mike Krzyzewski. North Carolina’s Hubert Davis seemingly lost all of his most important regular-season games, including against Kentucky when he replaced Roy Williams.

It turns out that Pope’s experience as a head coach at Utah Valley and BYU is a big part of that. He has a system in place and has the right staff in the UK to run it.

Once the Wildcats truly master when to shoot threes and when to look for a better shot, they can be a truly elite team. Until then, they can shoot their way in and out of games.

In the first half against Duke, it looked like UK was headed for a double-digit loss, trailing by nine. The Cats made their first five 3s, but then missed the next eight as the Blue Devils took control of the game.

Kentucky was just 4 of 14 from beyond the arc and was outscored by Duke 28-6.

Pope loves the 3, but that’s not how it’s supposed to work. The second half was more like what he wanted to play and that’s why the Cats were able to get the win.

Kentucky made just nine 3-pointers – after shooting 16 in the first half – and outscored the Blue Devils 20-18 in the game, leading to their win.

This column will be updated.

Reach sports columnist CL Brown at [email protected] and follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at Profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to ensure you don’t miss any of his columnsS.

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