The NCAA season is heating up, and the Kentucky Wildcats are right in the thick of it. After big wins over powerhouses like Duke and Florida, the latter of which propelled them 4 spots in the national standings, their defense completely unraveled in a blowout loss to Georgia. Getting schooled in the paint wasn’t exactly what HC Mark Pope visioned—especially against his former team.

Pope didn’t hold back when discussing Kentucky’s defensive issues in two of their more recent games. “That’s a bell we gotta ring. It’s just unacceptable for us,” he said via Kentucky Sports Radio. The HC was discussing the back-to-back 15 offensive rebounds the Wildcats had given up.

Kentucky also struggled with foul troubles with Otega Oweh and Amari Williams being benched with 2 fouls each in the first 17 minutes of the game against Georgia. That happened as the Bulldogs absolutely held on to the lead. Pope wasn’t a fan of how things went down. “There were so many uncharacteristic plays on court tonight and for us as a deciding team, as a decision-making team, those are manifestations of some distractions,” he adds.

After securing a 4-0 start, the Wildcats maintained a good back-and-forth through to the first ten minutes. They even maintained an 18-15 lead. But by the 7-minute mark in the first half, the Bulldogs had caught up. De’Shayne Montgomery’s jumper tied the score, while a foul on Kentucky’s Jaxson Robinson turned the game around. Silas Demary Jr. managed both the free throws which took the Bulldogs to a 25-27 lead and they never looked back through to the end.

Georgia finished 82-69, handing the Wildcats only their 2nd loss of the season and third-straight in Athens. As the Wildcats navigate the challenges of the SEC, Pope emphasized the need to stay focused and build better habits. “Part of it is learning to focus on the moment—exactly what’s happening. We’re working really hard on that,” he said. Kentucky needs to gear up on that, given they have quite the schedule ahead.

Mark Pope’s call to stay ‘locked in on defense’ is the need of the hour

Kentucky’s 2024-2025 basketball season has been all about high-scoring offense and some defensive struggles. Coach Mark Pope has the Wildcats lighting it up, averaging 90.2 points per game, which ranks them second in the nation.

Kentucky’s offense is firing on all cylinders, posting a 123.1 offensive rating, good for 5th in the country. Koby Brea, the transfer sharpshooter, is leading the way, knocking down over 52% of his threes, ranking him #1 in the nation. On the defensive end, Kentucky’s rating sits at 100.1, ranking 138th. They’ve got work to do to limit opponents’ points. But it isn’t that the Cats have been void of the defensive ability throughout the season.

Pope has expressed satisfaction with the team limiting some of the top-ranked program below 39% from beyond the arc. Duke was one, Lipscomb another. They also bounced back against Florida, forcing over 20 turnovers and converting a season-high 14 steals as a team. That is something Pope wishes for the Cats to carry on, no matter the team.

“I’d like us to really develop a standard where it doesn’t matter what time or score, that we are locked in on that. Doesn’t matter who’s on the floor. We are locked in defensively the whole time,” he says. Well, they will need to tap into that mindset as they face 4 nationally ranked teams in the next 5 games, including no.1 Tennessee.