Mark Pope Speaks With The Media Following The Loss to Florida

Mar 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope claps during the first half against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Following Kentucky’s regular-season finale against Florida, head coach Mark Pope addressed the team’s struggles after the game and shared his thoughts on moving forward into the SEC Tournament. Pope touched on the early runs by Florida, defensive lapses that often occur, turnovers, and the importance of preparing for the postseason.

Question: Mark, the two early runs by Florida there, the 11-0 to start it off and then the 13-0 after you guys almost tied it. Just what did you see in those two sequences from them?

Mark Pope: “Yeah, we um we you know we we’ve done that sometimes to start games where we’ve been a little bit sticky and a little paralyzed and they went to the post two straight possessions and and and we we you know they their bigs really want to attack come back to the baseline. We did a poor job on both those defensive possessions and then um you know we we you know just didn’t have any pace on the offensive end. So that was the start of the game and then um you know the the the run later in the half was was was really tough for us and we’re just trying to figure out how to how to manage this. Um you know we make poor decisions when we’re tired on the floor. We just do. We make poor decisions we’re tired on the floor. So we’re trying to find out how to how to you know ameliorate that and and fix it and and that’s been a problem for us the last couple games. and um you know we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll perform better than that.”

Question: But that was really disappointing. Can you talk about what made it so tough?

Mark Pope: “It was just disappointing for us. Um we give up 19 18 19 points in the first half in transition which is really two things you have to do with Florida and you have to rebound the ball and you have to uh guard in transition. We did a poor job with that and a lot of that was part of it was turnovers even though the turnover number in the first half wasn’t crazy. It was six. But part of it was just poor shot selection at the rim, which is what they do. Um and as much as we tried to communicate that and teach that to our team, I did a poor job of getting that messaging across because we continued to do it. So, part of it also was we put ourselves in harm’s way during that run just by poor offensive decision making and some turnovers.”

Question: Mark, you’re now at tournament time. What’s the one thing you’re really focused on? What’s the one thing that has to get fixed for us?

Mark Pope: “When we guard, we’re actually pretty good. When we’re guard, when we guard, we’re good. And all facets of that have to be great for us. Tonight we had just massive first half transition breakdowns and that’s tough. We’re actually in a top wedge check one, two, three, and still we just didn’t do what we set out to do. And when we guard, we’re in every game. And so it’s really important for us.”

Question: Fans can look at the SEC and say, “Well, five wins, five days.” How do you approach the mindset with your guys heading into a situation like that?

Mark Pope: “The great thing about tournament is there’s only one game. It’s one game. So, we’ll talk about one game. That’s all it is. Postseason is one game, and we’re going to prepare for one game on Wednesday, and we’re going to put our whole heart and soul into it, and that’s the only thing that matters to us, and that’s the beauty of the postseason.”

Question: Coach, big picture, how do you feel the team has handled the attention and expectations of this season?

Mark Pope: “I think it’s still a work in progress. Ask me when it’s over.”

Question: Mark, you’ve talked about needing these guys to step up, especially some of the role players with the shortened roster and quick turnarounds. Jasper tonight had a stretch there where he turned it over and then the intentional foul. How do you use those moments as a learning moment when you’re going to have to play so many games back-to-back?

Mark Pope: “I have a lot of faith in our guys. They got faith in Jasper and Trent and Mo and BG, and they’re going to help us. They’re going to play well. They’ve had stretches where they played well, and they’re going to have big minutes as we get into the postseason. I’m confident in that.”

Question: Mark, they held Colin to just two points tonight. Todd said that their big point of emphasis was to make sure he didn’t get off threes. Does he have to be more of a three-level scorer for you guys now?

Mark Pope: “Yeah, I thought we did a poor job. In stretches in the first half, we just didn’t initiate offense well at all. I was surprised. It’s actually been a strength of ours to get into early offense, and I thought we were poor there. That allows Colin to run into some space, and I thought we did a poor job helping him as a team. But yeah, he’s a major focus. He’s the best three-point shooter in the league, so he’s always going to be a huge focus.”

As Pope noted, Kentucky will now shift focus to the SEC Tournament. With preparation for just one game at a time, the Wildcats will look to clean up their defensive lapses, manage turnovers, and capitalize on the offensive opportunities they create. The lessons from this regular-season finale will be crucial as Kentucky plays for the first time in the conference postseason on Wednesday.