No. 14 Kentucky picked up its biggest win of the season so far, going nearly wire-to-wire in a 87-83 win against No. 9 North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Saturday. The Wildcats led for more than 37 minutes of the game but the relentlessness from the Tar Heels kept the result in doubt until the final minute, with a young Kentucky team playing far beyond its years to secure the victory.
Kentucky's top four scorers were all freshmen, with Rob Dillingham pacing the group with 17 points and D.J. Wagner (14 points), Reed Sheppard (11 points) and Aaron Bradshaw (12 points) answering the call in key minutes against a veteran-led North Carolina side. Not all of those freshmen are starters, which contributed to the notable 36-14 bench points advantage that Kentucky held at the end of the game.
North Carolina made multiple charges in a game where it was chasing basically the entire night, and RJ Davis had yet another impressive performance to add to his run of high-scoring performances with 27 points on 8-for-18 shooting. But this was a North Carolina team that had just four players with more than eight points while Kentucky had seven, and combined with the bench points it revealed something impactful about the game.
In a matchup between two blue bloods on a big stage, Kentucky had more players rise the level of the moment than North Carolina.
That's a credit to John Calipari and his staff for preparing Kentucky to be ready for the moment when previously the best win on the profile was against unranked Miami. And while the Kentucky coach has gotten some attention for modernizing his approach with a team that's taking more 3-pointers, there was something very old school Coach Cal about seeing him trust a talented core of freshmen in key moments against one of the toughest opponents on the schedule.
Kentucky and UNC will move forward in their respective conferences with plenty left to play for regardless of wins or losses. But what we've learned about both teams — particularly Kentucky's rotation depth and versatility — will be a factor for the rest of the season and something to note when we start to prepare for the most impactful games of the season in March.
