ESPN draws big ratings for Kentucky's Champions Classic win over Duke

The Big Blue Nation was pumped up for this year's edition of the Champions Classic. The clash with Duke in Atlanta was seen as a showcase game for a new era as Mark Pope would go head-to-head against Jon Scheyer in his first big game on the UK sideline.

That highly anticipated contest ended in a thrilling 77-72 victory where Kentucky's depth and defense allowed the multi-possession underdog to pull away from the top-10 Blue Devils in the second half. Kentucky fans were not the only ones watching the big game late on Tuesday night on the East Coast.

ESPN pulled in some strong ratings for the first big college basketball event of the year.

The second game of Tuesday night's double-header peaked with 2.1 million viewers and averaged 1.8 million viewers. This was ESPN's most-watched late game of the Champions Classic in a half-decade.

A new era of Kentucky basketball has arrived and many tuned in to see Pope's Cats beat Duke to deliver an early statement win in year one.

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