Mark Pope admits to frustration vs. Texas A&M, reveals how Kentucky avoided it

No. 8 Kentucky hosted No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday night and for much of the first half the Aggies managed to muck up the game and make it a real grind for the Wildcats.

Kentucky coach Mark Pope was blunt when asked after the game how things felt.

“There was a lot of frustration,” he said. “That’s what Texas A&M does really well.”

Despite being a team with some grit, Kentucky didn’t necessarily handle it well in the first half. Texas A&M opened up an early seven-point lead on the road at one point.

Then the team’s veterans and Pope began to get through: Just play your game. Don’t let the frustration get to you.

“Our guys, you know, that’s something that we’ll continue to work on all season long is just… our guys do a bunch of things,” Pope said. “One, there was so much good happening on the floor, like we felt good on the glass all night long. In fact, in the first half we gave up two offensive rebounds in the first half, minus two possessions where we gave up five offensive rebounds in those two possessions.

“But there was so much good for us to keep talking about in timeouts, for us to keep focusing on. And I think when you kind of keep focusing on what you’re doing well, I think it gives you some staying power.”

Kentucky surged back in front to take the lead at halftime. It never looked back, never again trailing in the contest. And the game turned into a double-digit affair for much of the second half.

That’s a testament to Kentucky’s ability to weather a storm, however frustrating.

“Our guys are pretty good about metabolizing frustration,” Pope said. “They’re pretty good at that, which is massively important. If you’re going to be a good team you better be able to get rid of frustration. You better be able to just absorb it and spit it out and our guys can do it.”