Not once, but twice did Mark Pope call out Cooper Flagg‘s spinning tendencies when looking to create scoring opportunities with the ball in his hands. And that’s just what we saw in The Journey, the Kentucky head coach first bringing up the star freshman’s habit at halftime, telling the Wildcats to attack those moments with two hands when they inevitably present themselves.

“If Cooper gets in there and starts spinning around, move your feet, move your feet, move your feet. And if you’re going for the ball, go in there with two hands,” Pope told the team down 46-37 at the half. “They’ll be less inclined to call a foul. Stick your nose in there. If you’re coming help defense, go in with two hands.”

He brought it up again down the stretch with Kentucky fighting to pull off the upset win, tied at 72-72 with just 26 seconds to go. Duke had the ball with a chance to throw a dagger, almost certainly putting it in the hands of Flagg to make it happen.

Pope’s response?

“If I get Cooper on an iso, we’re coming and we’re rotating down. As he starts to spin, we’re coming,” he said once again. “This could either be a full-body or two hands — we are not paying him out with a foul. Go in with two hands and take the ball. If Cooper goes to work and spins, we should have a body there to take the ball. Yes? Let’s go boys.”

You know the rest of the story, Flagg falling right into Kentucky’s trap. The likely No. 1 pick drives on the left elbow, defended by Andrew Carr. He goes between the legs twice, then spins from left to right with Otega Oweh waiting for him with an outstretched hand. The junior guard makes contact with the ball and secures it with two, just as Pope requested, then takes it coast to coast for the foul and free throws on the other end.

It was the game-winning sequence, putting the Wildcats up two before forcing another Flagg turnover to go up three, then five to wrap up the upset victory.

How did it all happen? Kentucky saw it pop up on film going into the matchup, then saw the trend continue as things unfolded inside State Farm Arena. It was a real-time adjustment called by the head coach — one of many throughout the game, but inarguably the biggest.

“It was something he noticed in real time. He did it a couple of times during the game. We watched it a little bit on film, all of our fours were watching film on him,” Lamont Butler told KSR. “That’s just a smart guy, smart coach. He knew what was going to happen and it helped us out. Otega was able to make a big play and help us get the win.”

“Going into the game, the scouting report, part of that is knowing players’ go-to moves and moves that counter very well,” Brandon Garrison added. “I feel like he was doing that all game, so we knew as players that he was going to make that spin and Otega would be right there to make the game-winning steal.”

Pope also stressed improved transition defense and ball screen coverage among the mid-game keys to a win, but it was his ability to call his shot with Flagg that has stolen the attention — and rightfully so. It’s like when Tony Romo first started calling NFL games for CBS and correctly predicted the plays before they happened. There’s an element of magic to it for the casual fan, but for those participating in the action, it’s about reading the situation and coming up with a response.

Fortunately for Kentucky, Pope is pretty darn good at it.

“It feels great. If you stick to the plan, stick to the scouting report, good things happen like that. We’re going to keep sticking with it,” Garrison said. “… Coach Pope is a great coach.”

“The way Coach Pope does it is very special. He really helped us at that point,” Butler added. “… That’s going to be great for us throughout the year.”

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday night at Northern Kentucky. Cincinnati lost in this exact scenario two years ago amidst a brutal offensive showing in the second half, but they are ready to avenge that performance with the best UC roster Wes Miller’s had.

UC enters with a 92.9% chance to win the game on ESPN’s Matchup Predictor. The Bearcats are ranked 11th on KenPom, while Northern Kentucky is 186th (highest-ranked UC opponent yet).

“I was pleased with the defensive effort to start the game,” Miller said about his team following Friday’s 86-49 win over Nicholls State. “I was pleased with the defensive effort to start the second half. And there was some good stuff going on.”

Cincinnati is 2-1 all-time against NKU ahead of the 7 p.m. ET Tuesday tip-off on ESPN+.

Will Simas Lukošius keep shooting over 70% from three-point land? Probably not, but Cincinnati is going to be a firm national title contender if he does.

So far, he’s hit 10-14 triple tries to rank tied for third nationally at 71.4% overall. The stroke looks as clean as any shot I’ve seen in person, mixed with the best shape Lukošius has been in during his college career. History says he can’t shoot this well on this type of volume, but above 40% over the full season is very plausible at this rate.

“I don’t feel like he’s forcing the shot at all,” Miller said about his top shooter. “I can’t think of one time when he forced a shot. In fact, early in the game, as he was coming off the floor for the first media timeout, I told him to shoot more. I thought he passed a couple of shots up. He had one he passed up in the corner drove in and turned it over by trying to get a lob to Aziz [Bandaogo]. Those are the turnovers that I can live with because they are aggressive, but he is such a damn good shooter. 

“He hasn’t been forcing them, and I think he’s taking the right shots. I believe you have to give credit to the other guys as well because the ball is popping around. You look down tonight and we have 18 assists. The ball is moving around, and there are a lot of other good players on the floor as well. Simas [Lukosius] is not going to shoot 80% this year, because nobody’s ever done that. I want him to do that but that won’t happen. He is going to have a great year, because he’s a really good player, and he continues to improve.” 

Off the catch, dribble, and in transition, Lukošius is hitting every type of deep shot through three games, all while he and Jizzle James lead the offense with 5.3 assists per game each.

He’s been the second-most efficient offensive player in the Big 12 so far, posting a whopping 40.3 Player Efficiency Rating and a scorching 92.9% effective field goal rate (fifth nationally). Now, he gets to test that shot outside the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena. A place where UC shot 28.6% from deep two years ago.

The Lithuanian is showing the end of last season wasn’t just some hot streak—it’s who he can consistently be as a college player. We’ll see if the full-season cement can set on this trajectory.

Time will ultimately tell who takes over the top perimeter guarding role on this Bearcats roster, but Jizzle James has led the way so far.

John Newman III looks like he’s rubbed off on the stout young guard. He’s notched an 82.4 defensive rating this season (16th-best in the Big 12), a big improvement from his 104.6 freshman mark. That’s been showcased with strong footwork on defense and complete control of his on-ball physicality (zero fouls committed in three games).

NKU doesn’t boast any daunting guard matchups like Nicholls’ Rob Brown. The Norse’s leading scorers are both guards, but neither are shooting over 42% from the floor.

“Jizzle James is really improved, and I think that’s so obvious guys,” Miller said on Friday. “He was really, really good on defense tonight. I mean, not only did he defeat ball screens, but I don’t think anybody hit him with the ball screen all night. I mean, he was special, so I was pleased with that, and I could keep going down the line, but I thought Jizzle had a really nice night.”

NKU is bottom-10 nationally in scoring average (57 PPG) and has KenPom’s 300th-ranked offense by efficiency. It should be a clamping field day for James and his teammates.

If healthy, Cincinnati has a few different avenues to hit a high ceiling this coming spring, and these early signs from James are great indicators they can keep climbing up the CBB hierarchy.

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and so much more. Check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

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