One of the more surprising numbers in the box score from Kentucky's 77-72 upset of No. 6 Duke on Tuesday night in Atlanta was the "1" occupying the points column beside Jaxson Robinson's name.

Widely considered to be the top-scoring option on the Wildcats this season, the grad senior wing only took four shots from the field against the Blue Devils. His lone point came from a trip to the free-throw line.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope says don't mistake that for a disappointing night at the office. Robinson was a big contributor in arguably the biggest win of the young college basketball season.

"You know what's interesting about Jaxson?" Pope said during his Thursday press conference at Memorial Coliseum. "He played great. Like, he made huge defensive plays down the stretch."

The UK staff does a raw tracking report on the team's defense, Pope explained, and the numbers showed that Jackson's man scored only two points in the entire game. That included one of Duke's highly touted freshmen, Kon Knueppel, who entered the game coming off ACC Rookie of The Week honors after averaging 18.5 points and shooting 56.5% from the field in the Blue Devils' first two games of the season. He finished the game 5-of-20 from the field, scoring most of his 14 points against other UK defenders.

Robinson had two blocked shots and a steal, contributing to an impressive grade from a separate analytic site.

"You think about the matchups that he had, he was actually elite," Pope said.

Robinson transferred to UK from BYU this summer to join his old coach in Lexington. When he did, most basketball observers saw him as a major scoring addition, and he may well still be that guy for the Cats despite a cold start (4-for-16) from the arc this season.

But the 6-foot-6 wing's defense could be a big bonus, not to mention a boost to his NBA Draft stock.

Meanwhile, the UK staff will continue to work on helping Robinson combat the type of defensive looks he may see playing the kind of teams and athletes that the Cats will see this season.

"There's more ways he can grow, for sure, and he's really hungry to do that," Pope said. "He's an extraordinary offensive player, and when you are, you garner a lot of attention. He certainly is the headliner on every single scout.

"Sometimes just the sheer gravity that you afford your teammates on the floor actually makes the biggest contribution, and it certainly was in that game."