Hello, Big Blue Nation.
Kentucky announced itself with authority on Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic against No. 6 Duke. In a game that went down to the wire, it was Kentucky that looked the more veteran team.
Guard Otega Oweh ripped a ball away from Duke star Cooper Flagg with about 10 seconds to go, helping seal a massive win for first-year coach Mark Pope
Otega makes a huge play,” Pope said on ESPN after the game. “In fact we talked about it walking down the floor like, ‘It’s time for you to make a big-time defensive play.’ And he delivered like he normally does.”
Not only did Otego deliver, Pope did too. It’s been a whirlwind several months, a stretch that began with essentially an empty roster.
He went to work building the pieces of the roster, hoping to put something on the floor the Big Blue Nation could be proud of. So far, so good.
Yeah, just I’m really proud of our guys. Our first half was pretty shaky,” Pope said. “We had a lot of things that felt a little weird tonight, but their just fighting spirit just continued to come through. And I know that sounds so cliche, but in these games when you have two great teams going against each other it comes down to the connective tissue of the team and it comes down to like all the little, extra stuff.
“Our guys just kept battling. I was most proud of their resilience with their emotion. Their emotion was incredibly resilient. Everybody on the roster contributed.”
