BBN filled Rupp Arena and waited an hour to hear Mark Pope talk after Kentucky's New Year's Eve win
Not many teams could fill a gym for a 2 p.m. game vs. a mid-major opponent on New Year’s Eve. The weather didn’t do anyone any favors either, with winds gusting as a cold front dips into the Bluegrass. Combine all of that with the jarring 20-point loss to Ohio State ten days ago and you would understand if Rupp Arena wasn’t filled to the brim for the matinee matchup vs. Brown.
But, of course, it totally was, because this is Kentucky in the first season of the Mark Pope era. Even though he’s an expert when it comes to the BBN’s behavior, Pope still marveled at the crowd to open his postgame press conference.
“I think our guys had fun tonight. I told the guys, I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world where you get to walk in on New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m. and have every single — 20,500 people packed in there to watch you play, you know, a mid-major team. It’s just incredible. I’m grateful to all of BBN.”
A capacity crowd during the middle of the afternoon on a holiday is one thing. The number of fans who stuck around Rupp for Mark Pope’s postgame radio show is another. The crowds for Pope’s radio show have steadily grown all season and today’s may have been the largest as thousands waited for Kentucky’s head coach to sit down with Tom Leach. It took longer than usual, a full hour after the game ended.
“This is not a takeaway from [the game], but for us to walk into this jam on New Year’s Eve and have 20,500 people packing the joint, you guys are just amazing,” Pope said. “We’re super grateful, and thanks for making a great night for us. Thank you guys so much.”
Fans at today’s game were rewarded with a 34-point win. From here, the road gets infinitely harder. No. 6 Florida comes to town on Saturday, one of ten ranked teams in the SEC. Pope liked how his team his team bounced back after the loss to Ohio State, especially on the defensive end, but he knows what lies ahead.
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“Are you guys scared of hard?” Pope asked fans in the stands. “Nah, the BBN isn’t scared of hard. Listen, there’s gonna be ups and downs. There’s gonna be moments where we feel like this is not gonna work but we have a team with a ton of resolve and a ton of resilience, so we’re going to work through the beautiful times and the tough times and see if we can keep getting better every single day.”
Pope couldn’t help but mention the loss to Ohio State again — his first as a coach before Christmas since his first season at Utah Valley. Today, he and the team were finally able to turn the page.
“This game we played before Christmas was so, just so brutal, so terrible. But you know what? It made us better. Like, we got better over the last week, and it gave us a new focus and kind of exposed us to some things, which gave us a place to get better. And I’m proud of our guys for doing that.”
I expect fans to also answer the bell for Saturday’s early tip vs. the Gators. Eleven in the morning is a weird time to play a college basketball game, but the Cats will need every ounce of energy BBN can give in what could be a crucial conference showdown.
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