Mark Pope stuck up for Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler after the win

Andrew Carr, Otega Oweh, Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison were the obvious standouts in Kentucky‘s upset win over Duke. They made plays on both ends and it led to a long-awaited celebration of Mark Pope’s first statement victory as the head coach of his alma mater, the Wildcats coming out on top for the first time since 2019.

It’s hard to nitpick in a win of this magnitude knowing what it means for the program, but if you’ve got to point out some of the struggles, Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler are among the very few. Let me first make clear, though, that both players are absolute game-changers in their own ways, the former offensively and the latter defensively, in particular. They’ll both win more games for Kentucky this season than they’ll lose, without question.

But both of their struggles on the big stage were glaring, Robinson finishing with one point on 0-4 shooting to go with two blocks, one rebound, one steal and one turnover in 27 minutes and Butler adding nine points on 3-7 shooting with four assists, three rebounds and two turnovers in 24 minutes. Those struggles were magnified in the first half with the latter doing far too much and the former doing far too little.

How much did their play hurt Kentucky overall? Mark Pope says not at all. In fact, they helped the Wildcats pull off the big-time victory, no matter what the box score said.

“We didn’t win without Jaxson because Jax has such an impact. You talk about a gravity guy,” he said. “Just throw Jax on the floor and four guys are leaning toward him. His numbers might not have been huge, but he has an impact right when he walks in the gym.”

Robinson finished the first half with zero shot attempts and the game with four total. His shooting production was minimal, but the defense always had to account for him, opening up opportunities for Kentucky elsewhere.

That means something.

“He has an impact on the scout, he has an impact on all those things. This team is built this way, Jaxson has grown into an exceptional leader. Exceptional,” Pope added. “These guys know it’s not about him — that doesn’t mean we don’t all care and want to be successful individually. We sure do. But it’s not just about Jax. Jax made a huge contribution tonight in all of the ways he does. Come on, that’s a dangerous man. That’s a really dangerous man.”

The same can be said about Butler, who had a horrific first half on both ends before finding his footing in the second. His shot selection was poor and his defensive slip-ups were costly in the first 20 minutes. That led to Pope pulling him aside at halftime to let him know his confidence hadn’t gone anywhere and he trusted his starting point guard to finish the job.

Then he did, going for an efficient four points, three assists and zero turnovers in the second half.

“Lamont is the foundation of this team,” Pope said. “If you get to know Lamont Butler, he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. That’s not an overstatement. And he’s a winner — a winner.”

The conversation isn’t shifting because of one ho-hum night. His belief remains strong no matter what, and the second-half payoff was worthwhile.

“We’re riding or dying together, man. That’s how this team is,” Pope added. “I feel that way about Otega, I feel that way about Andrew. We’re our guys, we’re each other’s guys. We’re not going away from each other. If we have a bad half or a bad half or a bad game, we’re running back to each other.

“That’s the conversation I had with Lamont. He doesn’t need much, he’s got a winner’s heart. He had an unbelievable second half, he really gave us a massive lift in the second half.”

It was enough to pull off the 77-72 win over No. 6 Duke, which is all that matters at the end of the day. One way or another, Pope is gonna stand up for his guys.