The first high-profile matchup of the Mark Pope era ended with euphoria for the Big Blue Nation.

There were several points on Tuesday night in Atlanta when it felt like Kentucky was on the verge of being blown out by the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils. But this scrappy group of Wildcats never wavered, fighting the full 40 minutes and ultimately running Duke’s talented freshmen into the ground.

Thanks to a couple of clutch free throws by Otega Oweh and lockdown defense down the stretch on Duke’s projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, No. 19 Kentucky came out with the 77-72 win in the Champions Classic. UK led for just a little over seven minutes of game time but stepped up when the moment called for it. Both sides shot 40 percent from the field, but Kentucky’s 10-25 mark from deep (compared to 4-23 for Duke) made the difference.

Oweh was among the standouts for Kentucky, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. His stellar play in the final minutes won UK the game. Andrew Carr was arguably the most important Wildcat though with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Nine of his points came in the second half. Amari Williams rounded out UK’s double-digit scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Flagg, the uber-talented 17-year-old freshman, finished his night with 26 points and 12 rebounds, but he shot just 9-19 from the field and was hounded by Kentucky’s defenders throughout the entirety of the second half.

Duke would throw the first punch, jumping out to an immediate 4-0 lead as Kentucky looked rattled. Pope’s group of veterans would quickly settle in though. A 5-5 start from deep from beyond the arc for the Wildcats put them in front by as many as six. Flagg made his presence felt early on and was up to 12 points through the first 12 minutes of action. This was around the time that Kentucky’s halfcourt offense began to stall, made worse by a rough opening half on both ends of the floor by starting point guard Lamont Butler.

After making its first five shots from deep, Kentucky went on to miss the next eight. Duke was in the double bonus roughly 11 minutes in. A contested layup by Kon Knueppel gave the Blue Devils a six-point lead. Soon after, with 6:40 left in the first half, Flagg was tagged with his second personal foul and went to the bench. Koby Brea would end UK’s outside shooting drought thanks to a three-pointer that made it 33-29 with under five minutes until the break.

Duke would later lead by as many as 10 points before settling on the halftime score of 46-37. The Blue Devils recorded just one first-half turnover compared to seven for UK. Carr, Oweh, and Butler all had two fouls while Duke’s Flagg (2), Khaman Maluach (2), and Maliq Brown (3) were also in foul trouble. The Blue Devils were living in the paint with 26 points. Kentucky had just six. Jaxson Robinson had zero shot attempts for the ‘Cats.

Kentucky would come out of the locker room ready to fight, scoring the first five points of the second half. Duke continued to keep the Wildcats at bay, although injuries to Maluach and Sion James came at bad times. Butler, who was playing much better to start the half, finished off an and-one that got UK within three points at the under-12-minute media timeout.

That momentum was shut down immediately with a 5-0 run by Duke. But like a see-saw, back and forth we went. A couple of made layups for Kentucky made the score 61-57 in favor of the Blue Devils with 8:29 left in the game. Brandon Garrison stepped up with back-to-back buckets, bringing UK’s deficit to within two points for the first time since there was 8:23 to go in the first half.

Kentucky kept it close, refusing to let Duke go on a big run. Going into the final media timeout, Carr converted an and-one that knotted the score at 67-67. Carr would then find Oweh for a wide-open backcut that put the Wildcats in front. The Blue Devils would call a timeout down two with 2:09 left.

The lead didn’t last long. Out of the break, Flagg converted on an and-one that gave Duke the lead right back. But Carr came right back down the floor with the same result as Kentucky regained the advantage once again, 72-70. Flagg would tie the game with 1:14 to go and had a chance to win it on the final possession, but Oweh ripped the ball away, turned down the floor, and was fouled on a layup attempt.

He hit both freebies to give UK the lead. Flagg would turn the ball over on the other end in an attempt to save Duke. Kentucky made enough free throws to ice the win. The Pope era couldn’t be off to a better start.