Final! What a win for Coach Pope and the Cats! It was a great win for the Cats Jay Williams on Sportscenter looks like he is about to cry! lol

He was saying before the game that this Duke team had the most talent he thought since he was there in 2004 and the take the L!

What. A. Game. 

Wow, this is great, go Cats!

Woo Hoo!!!

Flagg played like a normal 17-year-old in the last minute.  Still a heck of a player.

Great win for Pope and the Cats.  Didn't think it would happen. 

I said before the game that today is when Kentucky's ceiling is MAYBE a little higher than Dukes potential ceiling. I said that because of their depth with experience and I think thay showed some during the second half. Duke will be solid this season. 

I’ve been on my feet since halfway thru 2nd half….

What a team win!!!!

That was F-U-N!!!

Cats had 3 starters in double figures and Butler had 9. They also had 25 points off the bench compared to just 6 for Duke. Duke looked like past Kentucky teams with young talent struggling down the stretch this time Kentucky had more experience and it showed the last 2 minutes.

THAT’S COACHING!!!!!  NOBODY could’ve coached that game better than Pope just did, his in game adjustments, demeanor the whole game, substitutions were simply outstanding, couldn’t have done it any better!!!

It came early, but this is the signature win Coach Pope needs and it will really gather some momentum for the team and for the fan base. Although this is an entirely new squad that I believe we are yet to see the best of this group and once they gel they can do some amazing things. This is an excellent showing. On Flagg's end, you hate to see that for the young man and it's a short-term pain but it's games like these that result in long-term gains. 

I have been preparing for several upcoming basketball games so a big shout out to @16thBBall Fan for the updates. Based on the thread, this game had some similarities to their 1966 matchup when the two programs met for the first time in the Final Four. UK was ranked #1 and Duke #2. UK went on a shooting slump and Duke would lead for a while, only for UK to pull it out in the end with some big plays to win 83-79.

14 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Final! What a win for Coach Pope and the Cats! It was a great win for the Cats Jay Williams on Sportscenter looks like he is about to cry! lol

He was saying before the game that this Duke team had the most talent he thought since he was there in 2004 and the take the L!

He is not wrong. This Duke team is loaded, and we definitely were fortunate they missed a lot of open threes. With that said that is a huge win for Mark Pope and the Cats. This Duke team is going to be really good, so this was a really good win tonight!! I love it!

3 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

THAT’S COACHING!!!!!  NOBODY could’ve coached that game better than Pope just did, his in game adjustments, demeanor the whole game, substitutions were simply outstanding, couldn’t have done it any better!!!

I think his best move all night was when he put Carr at the 5. That was a great move, especially since they haven’t shown Carr at the 5 all year so far. 

The defensive adjustments at the half were outstanding. Defensive rebounding got lightyears better in the second half. 

 

They showed the grit! They got the win baby! 

I still worry about this team being able to get that bucket at the end of the game to win it, as they don’t have anyone who can really create on their own. With that said, I don’t really worry about this team defensively at the end of the game. A team is going to have to earn it at the very end to score.