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Mark Pope celebrated with Kentucky fans following win over Duke

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan•11/12/24•

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Mark Pope hugging his wife, Lee Anne - Dylan Ballard, A Sea of Blue
Mark Pope hugging his wife, Lee Anne - Dylan Ballard, A Sea of Blue

Mark Pope is a man of the people. So of course he celebrated the biggest win of his head coaching career with the Kentucky fanbase.

Immediately following No. 19 Kentucky’s thrilling 77-72 upset of No. 6 Duke at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Pope made sure to do some celebrating with the Big Blue Nation. In the aftermath of what was his first high-profile win (and third overall game) as the UK head coach, Pope pointed to the sea of Kentucky fans (after giving his wife Lee Anne a proper hug, of course) and fired off a fist pump. He kept pointing to UK fans on his way off the floor, handing out high-fives along the way.

“This is actually not about me at all. If it’s about me, it’s too much and it’s too big. It’s about these boys. It’s about BBN,” Pope told Jess Sims postgame on the ESPN broadcast. “It’s about these guys coming and competing. These guys dreaming of wearing a Kentucky jersey one day, never thinking they would… That’s what makes this special. I just get to observe and watch. And that’s pretty great.”

The smile on his face tells you everything you need to know. This win was special.

As is tradition for these types of big wins, Pope received the postgame water bath in the locker room. We don’t have that video (yet), but we know that he wasn’t going in without any ammo himself. Alongside athletic director Mitch Barnhart, armed with multiple water bottles, the two went in to celebrate with the entire team.

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2025-02-22