Maybe it was wearing blue uniforms for the first time this season. More likely, it was the chance to make amends for the opening-night debacle against Duke.
Whatever it was, Kentucky surely made the statement it wished to in an 80-72 victory over North Carolina on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic.
“It’s definitely a big win ...,” said Keldon Johnson, who led UK with 21 points. “I think we came out and were very aggressive. ... It’s just a big-time win.”
Going into this weekend, North Carolina had a NCAA Evaluation Tool rating of No.