Trailing by nine at halftime in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday night, the Kentucky Wildcats rallied in just their third game with Mark Pope as head coach to defeat the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 77-72.

It’s a huge win for Kentucky, suggesting this team’s potential is huge in Pope’s first season.

Here are eight observations from Tuesday night’s Champions Classic win for the Wildcats.

1. Looking at the first three games of the season, one thing that is getting a lot of attention is the fact that Kentucky has not returned any scoring, rebounding or assists from a season ago. This is a very different roster than a season ago, and it already seems like they have been playing together for at least a full season.

2. Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and the entire ESPN crew have done a great job profiling what this Kentucky team has done to help this brand new team play together on the field. They showed and talked about the number of bonding activities the players participated in during the offseason and leading up to the season. You never know exactly what impact these bonding activities can have off the field, and it’s clear that this team is really making strides in playing together on the field.

3. I have a favorite player on this year’s team: Kerr Kriisa. When I watched the replays of the first two games last weekend, I was very impressed with the way Kriisa plays: hard, tough, downhill and smart. That’s a player worth getting behind. Kriisa has played a lot of College Basketball, including at Arizona, where he led the Pac-12 in assists in consecutive seasons and ranks in the top 10 in Arizona history in 3-point field goals made. Even though Kriisa only has six points and two rebounds, his fire and passion will be one of the many things that take the Wildcats far this season.

4. Andrew Carr was the best player on the floor for Kentucky. Carr, a veteran player with two years of experience at Delaware and Wake Forest, entered Kentucky with more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in his career. With the game on the line Tuesday night, Carr took the lead. He attacked the basket with ruthless tenacity at the heart of the Duke’s defence. Carr finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists on Tuesday night.

5. Otega Oweh is emerging as the glue man on this Wildcats team. On Tuesday night, it was his offensive rebound after a missed free throw that helped the Wildcats win. Oweh was 5/6 from the free throw line, two of which put the lead in the final seconds and two more to seal the victory. He had 15 points and six rebounds plus three assists, a block and a steal while going 2/3 from 3-point range. Oweh plays the game hard and smart, which is a great combination for a player to have.

6. Cooper Flagg is as advertised. For a freshman, he wasn’t afraid of this stage. Flagg had 26 points and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes Tuesday night and proved the moment wasn’t too big for him.

7. I like the way Lamont Butler fits into this team. He’s the guy who’s been there before. After all, he had tremendous success at San Diego State. Butler is a veteran who can handle almost any situation. He had nine points with three rebounds and four assists on Tuesday night.

8. Amari Williams is becoming one of the most overlooked players in college basketball. Williams led the Wildcats with eight rebounds Tuesday night, along with 10 points. He does a lot of little things to help this Wildcats team, and it clearly shows on the field.

Here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.

Team records and series notes

• Kentucky improves to 3-0 on the young season, while Duke falls to 2-1
• Great Britain now leads the all-time series against the Blue Devils 13-11. It was the first win for the Cats against Duke since the Champions Classic game on November 17, 2015, and snaps a two-game skid in the series
• Kentucky is now 6-8 in the Champions Classic and 2-3 against Duke in the event
• The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, November 19 at Rupp Arena at the Central Bank Center against Lipscomb. Tip time is set to 7:00 PM on SEC Network+.

Team notes

• Coach Mark Pope’s career record is now 190-108
• Pope is now 1-1 in his coaching career against Duke
• Kentucky trailed by nine at halftime, but outscored its opponent 40-26 in the second half
• UK held Duke to 39 percent shooting from the field. They have held their opponents under 40 percent from the floor in all three games so far this season
• The Kentucky bench scored 25 points and outscored Duke’s reserves 25-6
• The match featured nine lead changes and seven ties
• Kentucky led for only 7:11 into the game
• The Wildcats knocked down ten threes that night. They made double figures in three-pointers in all three games this season
• UK was 17 of 24 from the charity stripe, the team’s most made free throws and attempts in a game this year
• The Wildcats blocked a season-high eight shots

Player notes

• Andreas Carr was the leading scorer for Kentucky, finishing with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He also pitched in five boards and three assists
• Otega Oweh added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists and two steals. He has had multiple steals in all three games this season
• Amari Williams led the team in rebounds for the third straight game with eight boards
• Lamont Butler finished with a team-high four helpers
• Koby Brea went 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, giving him 12 threes on 16 attempts for the season (.750)
• Brandon Garrison scored a season-high eight points, all eight coming in the second half

In the first half

• Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams.
• The first substitution was Brandon Garrison at 16:53
• Duke jumped out to a 4-0 lead
• Kentucky tied the game at 6-6 on a 3-pointer by Carr
• UK took the lead for the first time at 9-8 after a 3-pointer by Oweh
• Duke led 11-9 at the first media timeout
• The Wildcats had their largest lead of the first half at 19-13 on a free throw from Jaxson Robinson
• Duke went on a 6-0 spurt to tie the game at 19
• The teams continued to go back and forth before Duke would take the lead at 25-24 with 8:23 left in the first half.
• Kentucky started 5-of-5 from 3-point range, but missed its next eight attempts before Brea broke the streak with a triple at 4:58
• Kentucky trailed 46-37 at halftime, its first halftime deficit this season
• Amari Williams and Andrew Carr led Kentucky in the first half with eight points each. Duke’s Cooper Flag and Kon Knueppel had 12 each
• The Blue Devils had just one turnover in the first twenty minutes

In the second half

• Kentucky started the second half with the starting lineup
• Kentucky opened the second half with a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer Oh and a basket Williams
• Duke continued to maintain its lead and extended the lead to eight on a 3-ball from Flagg with 10:21 remaining.
• Kentucky cut the lead to one on a three-pointer Kriisa with 5:28 to go
• Carr tied the game at 67 with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:57 to play
• A layup of Oh gave Kentucky the lead 69-67, the Cats’ first advantage since leading 24-23 in the first half
• Duke responded with an “and-one” from Flagg to regain the lead at 70-69
• Kentucky came right back with a basket and a foul Carr to give Great Britain a 72-70 lead
• A layup by Flagg brought the score back to 72 apiece with 1:14 remaining
• A bargain Oh, and a foul on the ensuing fast break gave the Kentucky guard two free throws, which he hit to make the score 74-72.
• Duke turned the ball out of bounds on its next possession, leaving 5.5 seconds on the clock
• A long inbound pass to Butler forced Duke to make a mistake. Butler made the first free throw. He missed the second, but the miss was nipped in the bud Ohon whom a mistake was subsequently made.
• Oh made both free throws to seal the 77-72 victory