Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant led Notre Dame Fighting Irish past No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats 64-50 Thursday night.
Atkins was the top scorer for Notre Dame with 16 points, Grant scored 13 points and six assists and Jack Cooley contributed with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"The way our guards were controlling things, I didn't have to do a lot of coaching," the Associated Press quoted Notre Dame coach Mike Brey as saying.
"Those guys were coaching the team. Eric Atkins running things, calling sets. When you have a veteran backcourt doing that, I just don't want to get in their way too much."
Notre Dame were leading at the end of the first half 36-25. They played a strong defensive game, restricting Kentucky to 40 percent shooting in the game, their lowest in the current season.
Notre Dame had a better shot percentage of 48 against the Wildcats, which is their season's best.
The Irish defeated the Wildcats for only the second time in 13 games. The thrilled home crowd rushed the floor to greet their players after the game, something that did not go down too well with Grant.
"I'd rather not have them on the court. Last year was kind of a surprise game. This year, going into it, all of us were expecting to win this game," he said.
Wildcats coach John Calipari said his team didn't perform to their expectations. "They beat us to balls," Calipari said. They beat us around the basket.
"We didn't compete. We didn't execute. We didn't play together. There's a lot of things we didn't do."
Julius Mays was the top scorer for the Wildcats, with 16 points and three assists, whereas Nerlens Noel added 10 points and chipped in with seven rebounds.
"We came out a little shell-shocked and we started playing their game, which is slow down and half court. I think we're more of an up-tempo team," Mays said.
Atkins said the victory would help the Irish improve during the rest of the season. "It just boosts our confidence that we can do it against an elite team," he said.
Calipari, on the other hand, hopes his team learned something from the loss.
"What I hope they figure out is you've got to do it together," he added. "You have to give Notre Dame credit. What a great crowd, with a great student body. They ground us out. That's how we usually play when we get up."
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