The game continued with offenses, and in the opening stages, the University of Kentucky's defense focused on double-teaming Duncan, trying to prevent him from even receiving the ball. Without Hexi Mon, Duncan might have had to fight one-on-two against Mark Pope and Anthony Walker near the paint. However, with Hexi Mon controlling the offensive rhythm, Duncan followed the pre-game arrangements, playing conservatively and not exerting himself in the initial phase, holding back his strength. He was decisive when opportunities arose and didn't force plays when they didn't.
The pace of the game troubled Dave Odom immensely because Duncan couldn't establish his rhythm. In the first half, Dave Odom called three timeouts for adjustments, but the effect was not obvious.
With Duncan being contained and his teammates unable to find their form, Hexi Mon unexpectedly became Wake Forest's primary scorer in the first half! Driving to the basket and shooting from outside, he scored 15 points in the half, equivalent to his usual full-game output.
The University of Kentucky was somewhat bewildered!
"Wasn't the number 4 point guard described as a relatively pure playmaker?"
"Wasn't he said to only excel at three-pointers from the perimeter?"
"Wasn't he supposed to fear physical contact and not be good at driving to the basket?"
During halftime, the University of Kentucky players were filled with questions, and their head coach began to doubt his pre-game assessment.
In the first half, to concentrate more defensive power on double-teaming Duncan, the University of Kentucky had deliberately reduced their help defense on Hexi Mon. They initially believed that by simply disrupting his perimeter shots, they could handle everything. However, Hexi Mon only made one three-pointer in the half; the remaining 12 points came from drives to the basket.
Initially, Ron Mercer was the one to rotate and defend Hexi Mon, but Mercer alone couldn't stop him.
Tony Delk then began to deliberately retreat and defend, joining Ron Mercer in a double-team. The Kentucky team was still unwilling to leave Duncan alone, opting to double-team both Duncan and Hexi Mon simultaneously. This meant the University of Kentucky underestimated the other players on Wake Forest, and Hexi Mon immediately passed the ball to Wake Forest's third-leading scorer, Rusty, and fourth-leading scorer, Jerry.
A strange situation unfolded on the court: apart from Duncan, everyone else on Wake Forest was scoring!
Dave Odom, Wake Forest's head coach, felt just as awkward as the Kentucky players.
Although Dave Odom knew this wasn't the scenario he wanted, he couldn't articulate any specific reason why it was wrong.
Because, at first glance, the situation seemed to be forced by the University of Kentucky's play.
They double-teamed Duncan, so Hexi Mon stepped up to score.
When they double-teamed Duncan and also double-teamed Hexi Mon, other players stepped up to score.
These developments seemed natural, the only issue being that it felt a bit "soft," lacking toughness. How to put it? It felt like playing guerrilla warfare.
Avoiding the enemy's strength, retreating when they advanced!
Dave Odom couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, but he vaguely sensed an invisible hand guiding the overall direction of the Wake Forest team. Was it Kentucky's head coach, Rick Pitino?
During halftime, at the University of Kentucky's side, head coach Rick Pitino was also unsatisfied with his team's first-half performance. In his ideal scenario, Kentucky, with their superior overall strength, should have completely suppressed Wake Forest in the first half and held a significant lead.
But the reality was that Wake Forest seemed to have a cheat code, impossible to contain.
Head coach Rick Pitino attributed the problem to their defensive strategy. Therefore, he decided to change the defensive rhythm of the first half, slightly reducing the double-teams on Duncan to increase defensive balance, and preventing Wake Forest from developing a full-team scoring rhythm.
On Wake Forest's side, Coach Dave Odom continued to emphasize what he had been stressing all along: the ball had to go to Duncan. Without Duncan's performance, Wake Forest couldn't win. Even though they were only trailing Kentucky by 3 points at halftime, without Duncan's contribution, Wake Forest couldn't achieve a comeback.
Neither head coach was satisfied with their team's first-half performance and hoped for changes in the second half.
Only one person, however, secretly winked at Duncan, signaling that it was his turn to explode in the second half.
At the start of the second half, Anthony Walker unexpectedly moved to the three-point line and hit a three-pointer, catching everyone off guard!
Anthony Walker did possess three-point shooting ability. However, his three-point shooting was highly inconsistent, with historical performances ranging from going 5-for-5 to 0-for-10.
From beyond the arc, Anthony Walker was an undeniable "streaky shooter," far less reliable than his interior play, which is why head coach Rick Pitino basically forbade him from shooting three-pointers. But the coach's prohibition was one thing, and whether the player shot was another!
Occasionally, Anthony Walker would defy his coach's wishes and look for his rhythm from beyond the arc.
Typically, this happened when the University of Kentucky already had a lead. Even if he missed, it wouldn't significantly impact the game.
However, in this game, the University of Kentucky hadn't yet secured a comfortable lead. For some unknown reason, Anthony Walker unexpectedly attempted a three-pointer right at the start and, to everyone's surprise, made it! This instantly extended Kentucky's lead from 3 points to 6 points.
After making the three-pointer, Anthony Walker happily performed his "butt-wiggling dance" to boost team morale.
The result, however, was the opposite!
Duncan, who was already prepared to exert himself, was further stimulated by Anthony Walker's actions, and his adrenaline began to surge.
Despite Duncan's perpetually expressionless demeanor, he was not one to be easily provoked at his core.
However, he didn't value superficial fame and saw through most things without speaking about them. When faced with provocation from opponents, he rarely responded with words; he acted directly.
When it was Wake Forest's turn to attack, Duncan, unusually, did not position himself low in the post but instead moved to the high post to set a screen for Hexi Mon.
The pick-and-roll between Duncan and Hexi Mon was of excellent quality. With Duncan's help, Hexi Mon successfully shook off Tony Delk and drove into the paint. Ron Mercer didn't even have time to rotate back; Hexi Mon was already heading straight for the basket.
Anthony Walker had been tormented by Hexi Mon's drives in the first half. Seeing that Ron Mercer couldn't recover in time, he voluntarily moved laterally to try and impede Hexi Mon. However, Hexi Mon delivered a lob pass to the middle, and the trailing Duncan soared through the air, completely disregarding the retreating Anthony Walker, and slammed the ball down with two hands for a powerful dunk.
Anthony Walker, unable to evade, was knocked off the baseline by Duncan, nearly falling.