Kentucky basketball's Mark Pope gets brutally honest on execution 'mess' vs. Texas
02/16/2025 12:45 PM
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is opening up about some of the things that went wrong for his team Saturday against Texas. The Wildcats dropped a close game, 82-78, to the Longhorns.
Pope says his team just didn’t get the job done when it really counted. Kentucky had a late lead, but lost it in the final three and a half minutes.
“Our guys, man we competed really hard. We just didn’t execute well. It was kind of a little mess of problems,” Pope said, per 247 Sports.
Kentucky missed free throws in that stretch, as well as gave up offensive rebounds to Texas. Pope is putting the blame on himself for the defeat.
“For me, I’ve got to find a way to help our guys be the way that we’ve been, which has been pretty good being really, really present in those moments. I didn’t help our guys do that well enough tonight,” Pope added.
The Wildcats are now 6-6 in the SEC this season, and hold a 17-8 overall record. The loss will be difficult to take for Kentucky fans, as Texas has a losing conference record.
Mark Pope is trying to get Kentucky basketball back to the NCAA tournament
Pope is a former Kentucky basketball player who took the job when John Calipari left for Arkansas. While Pope wasn’t able to keep Cal’s stellar recruiting class, he did bring in some really talented players to Lexington.
The first year for Pope has had its ups and downs. The loss to Texas is a really tough blow, as the Wildcats have some hard games coming up to close the SEC schedule. Kentucky basketball is in danger of finishing the SEC season with a losing conference record.
Pope says that execution is everything down the stretch.
“One of the things that’s been really special about our team is we’ve done a great job of kind of being in the moment, being onto the next play,” Pope added. “It’s been a really good characteristic of our team. We just weren’t our normal selves in that aspect of the game in the last three minutes and 45 seconds.”
Kentucky has SEC games remaining with ranked teams Alabama, Auburn and Missouri. It just won’t get easier for Pope and the Wildcats. Kentucky basketball is likely to make the NCAA tournament, but additional wins are necessary. The club can also pick up some victories in the SEC conference tournament.
Kentucky basketball next takes on Vanderbilt Wednesday. It’s a must win game for the Wildcats. The Commodores are also 17-8 on the year.
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