Mark Pope after SEC Tournament win over LSU: ‘The final chapter could be really special’
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Mark Pope is trying to meet the demands of possibly the most demanding college basketball fan base there is.
Pope played at Kentucky, so he knows all about Big Blue Nation and the expectations that are annually through the roof. It might be unrealistic for Pope to totally meet those expectations, especially this season, but he’s trying to take a step toward that by leading the Wildcats into the NCAA Tournament.
While that is hardly a done deal, Pope’s team that’s been up and down all season took a solid step toward an NCAA bid by holding off LSU, 87-82, on Wednesday afternoon in a first-round SEC Tournament game in Nashville.
Kentucky is the 9th seed at this week’s annual hardwood extravaganza, and the victory over the woeful Tigers was anything but dominating. But it was a victory, and a benchmark win because it got the Wildcats to that crucial 20-victory plateau that can mean so much to the eyes of the selection committee come Selection Sunday.
With Otega Oweh once again leading the way for UK with 23 points, including a huge basket with 1:12 remaining, and with Brandon Garrison chipping in 17 points off the bench, Kentucky staved off what would’ve been a disastrous loss to the 16th-seeded Tigers. Instead, Pope got the crucial victory and lived to tell about it to the SEC Now crew afterwards, and now he’ll have at least another game to prepare for in Nashville in Thursday’s 2nd-round affair against No. 8 seed Mizzou (12:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
“We’ve gone through so much as a team,” Pope said. “We’re building on everything we’ve gone through as a team. These guys have stuck together. They’ve won together. They’ve come back together. They’ve fought together.”
Right now, Kentucky’s ragged regular season doesn’t matter. The Wildcats are in Nashville with a purpose, says Pope.
“It’s just the final chapter of the book we’re trying to write, and the final chapter could be really special,” Pope said.
That next chapter will be written on Thursday afternoon against the Tigers, and afterwards Pope hopes he’s got yet another SEC Tournament game to prepare for on Friday.
Kentucky remained in the fight for the SEC Tournament title with that win on Wednesday, and here is how Kalshi sees the current odds in Nashville:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
