Mark Pope 'refuses' to be distracted by free throw difference vs. Georgia

The Kentucky basketball team fell to Georgia on Tuesday night, out of sorts midway through the contest in a game that involved a ton of whistles.

Georgia got to the free-throw line a whopping 38 times, double Kentucky’s 19.

Still, coach Mark Pope refused to use the officials as an excuse for his team after the game, instead pinning the blame for the loss squarely on himself and his players.

“Listen, that doesn’t have anything to do with this game, man,” Pope said. “We leave all that stuff. We’re working on the next play. We’re going to go control the stuff we need to control. And we can control enough factors in this game to win the game. That will always be true. So we refuse to be distracted by that.”

One of the issues for Kentucky was that Georgia spread the ball well. The team had nine assists in the contest and four different players scored in double figures in the 82-69 win.

Pope also pointed to another issue against Georgia. His team is hitting a lull midway through halves.

“We’re starting the game well. We’re starting games well,” Pope said. “The 12- to four-minute segment has been a little problematic for us. We’re doing some deep dives into tandems that work on the floor, but there’s something in there that’s just been troublesome for us. I don’t know if it’s scheme, flow, lineup. We’re still digging into that and we’re fine.”

That said, Kentucky doesn’t seem to be panicking.

After all, the team has some really quality wins this year — Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville and most recently Florida — and has a long road in front of it.

“Like I said, I thought we made great progress the last game and it was hard for us this game,” Pope said. “That’s certainly been something we’ve seen.”

Kentucky will be looking for a little more consistency in this stretch coming off the Georgia loss. The next three games and four of the next five will come against currently ranked opponents.

First up is a date at Mississippi State on Saturday, with tip scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on the SEC network.