No. 19 Kentucky won the first two games of the season relatively easily. Great Britain passed Wright State and Bucknell with minimal problems. The question was: how good is this team?

The Cats answered that question Tuesday night, defeating No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta.

Kentucky (3-0) got 17 points from Andrew Carr, who came into action late in the game. Otega Oweh had 15 points for the Cats and Amari Williams had 10, as UK snapped a two-game losing streak against the Blue Devils.

The Cats shot 10 of 25 from beyond the arc, compared to just four of 23 for the Blue Devils. UK also made 17 of 24 at the line, while Duke made 12 of 17.

Duke (2-1) scored the first four points of the game before Kentucky got a free throw from Oweh and a layup from Lamont Butler to cut the deficit to one. The Cats would tie the game on a Carr three. Great Britain would take the first lead at 9-8 on an Oweh three. Duke would take the lead back at 13-12 before Kentucky went on a 7-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Cats made their first five three-point shots.

Duke would score the next six points before Amari Williams hit a jumper to give UK a 21-19 lead. The Cats would take a 24-21 lead before Duke made five straight free throws to lead 26-24. A Cooper Flagg layup gave the Blue Devils a 28-24 lead and forced a Kentucky timeout with 7:32 left in the first half. Duke was able to complete the 9-0 run before Oweh tapped in a basket to cut the deficit to 30-26.

The Blue Devils would go up 33-26 before Koby Brea hit a three to get the Cats within four, 33-29. Duke responded with a 9-3 run to take a 42-32 lead. The Blue Devils would lead 46-37 at halftime.

Oweh got the scoring started in the second half with a left three, bringing UK within six, 46-40. A Williams bucket brought the Cats even closer, 46-42. The Blue Devils would respond with an 8-3 run to lead 54-45. The teams traded baskets before Brea hit another three to make it 56-50 with 12:48 remaining.

Butler would convert a fast break layup and subsequent free throw to get UK within three, 56-53. However, Duke would score the next five and lead 61-53 before the Cats got layups from Brea and Brandon Garrison to get back within four, 61-57, with 8:38 to go. After a Duke basket, UK got consecutive baskets from Garrison to get within two, 63-61.

After two Duke free throws, Kerr Kriisa hit a three to make it 65-64. After a pair of Flagg free throws, Carr drove to the basket, made the layup and was fouled. The free throw that followed tied the game at 67-67 with 3:57 to play.

The Cats would take the lead when Carr connected with Oweh for a layup with 2:40 to play. After a three-point play by Flagg gave Duke a 70-69 lead, Carr made an acrobatic layup and was fouled. He made the free throw and Kentucky led 72-70 with 1:49 to go.

Duke tied the game on a Flagg layup. But with 10 seconds left, Oweh was fouled and hit both free throws, giving UK a 74-72 lead. Flagg would turn the ball over before Butler fouled with 5.1 seconds left. Butler made the first free throw and missed the second, but Oweh got the rebound and was fouled with 0.5 seconds left. Oweh would hit both free throws to provide the final margin of victory.

Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Lipscomb at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.