Cats hang tough with 3-point shooting, heart

On By Littum

ATLANTA – Kentucky coaches Mark Pope doesn’t have the luxury of advanced talent and multiple NBA draft picks on its roster. That much was clear to see Duke’s Cooper Flagthe supposed no. 1 pick in next year’s draft, spinning past, crossing up and towering over UK defenders en route to a game-high 26 points.

These elite players are sure to trickle into Lexington, where they traditionally have to help make Great Britain a basketball blue blood. But for now Pope has no need of them; he has a team himself.

It was also very clear to see the Wildcats rally from a 10-point deficit against Duke at State Farm Arena for a 77-72 victory Tuesday in the Champions Classic.

Whatever concerns British fans had after John Calipari took his show to Arkansas after 15 seasons and Baylor’s Scott Drew turned down the chance to become his replacement can be put deep in storage.

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

Pope just pulled off the most regular-season wins of any of the rookie coaches who took over comparable programs.

Duke’s Jon Scheyer lost to Kansas his first season after taking over for Mike Krzyzewski. North Carolina’s Hubert Davis seemingly lost all of his regular season games, including to Kentucky when he replaced Roy Williams.

It turns out that Pope’s experience as a head coach at Utah Valley and BYU speaks volumes. He has a system that works and has the right fit of staff in the UK to run it.

Once the Wildcats truly master when to shoot 3s and when to chase a better shot, they can be a truly elite team. Until that time comes, they can shoot their way into games and shoot their way out.

The first half against Duke looked like UK was headed for a double digit loss that was nine. The Cats made their first five 3s and then proceeded to miss their next eight as the Blue Devils took control of the game.

Kentucky was just 4 of 14 from inside the arc and was outscored by Duke 28-6 in points in the paint.

Pope loves the 3, but that’s not how this is supposed to work. The second half looked more like how he wants to play and so the Cats were able to rally for the win.

Kentucky made just nine 3-pointers — after launching 16 in the first half — and outscored the Blue Devils 20-18 in the paint leading up to their victory.

This column will be updated.

Well sports columnist CL Brown at [email protected]follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and sign up for his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columnsp.