Kentucky basketball, despite bevy of mistakes, rallies in 2nd half for victory vs Duke

ATLANTA — This wasn’t the picture-perfect performance of the two preseason exhibitions. Or the first two regular-season games.

But Kentucky basketball found a way to stay unbeaten in 2024-25 despite a bevy of mistakes, downing fellow blue blood Duke, 77-72, in a Champions Classic matchup at State Farm Arena.

The Wildcats won despite committing 10 turnovers, three more than the Blue Devils (seven). No. 18 UK finished with 17 assists. Nearly a 2-to-1 ratio in terms of assists to turnovers. But Kentucky’s assist figure was still a far cry from the 26.5 per game it entered Tuesday averaging, the top mark in Division I.

Still, the Wildcats (3-0) made plays when it mattered. After trailing at halftime 46-37, coach Mark Pope’s team rallied for the come-from-behind win over the sixth-ranked Blue Devils.

Senior guard Kerr Kriisa sank a 3-pointer at the 5:28 mark to pull UK within one, 65-64. Fellow senior Andrew Carr tied the game a minute and a half later at 67-all after converting a traditional three-point play.

There were two ties and multiple lead changes in the waning minutes until Kentucky’s Otega Oweh made a pair of free throws with 10.3 seconds left for the go-ahead points. Oweh then came up with the game-sealing rebound with 0.5 seconds to play off a missed free throw from teammate Lamont Butler.

After Tuesday’s dramatic victory, UK won’t play again until next week.

Lipscomb arrives in Lexington for a 7 p.m. tipoff Nov. 19. The game will not be televised. Instead, it will stream live on SEC Network.

This story will be updated.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Duke vs Kentucky basketball score: Wildcats rally behind solid defense

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kentucky-basketball-despite-bevy-mistakes-043435242.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2024-11-13 04:34:00

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