Mark Pope isn't concerned about shooting (but he is about volume)

“I’m really frustrated that we’re not shooting more threes,” Mark Pope said. “It just eats at my heart. I’m like, man, we should be shooting the ball more. We’re working on that. We’re working on that and we’re going to get there.”

That was after Kentucky knocked down 11 3-pointers on 21 attempts in its rivalry win vs. Louisville. Then the Wildcats took one more and made seven fewer a game later against Ohio State in a 20-point loss, those four makes split between two players — and those two players combining for 14 attempts. There was absolutely nothing to love about the team’s shooting display inside Madison Square Garden, to put it lightly.

Maybe Pope should’ve taken Steven Peake’s question about a universal basketball ahead of the matchup more seriously? That bright orange Wilson Evo NXT ball produced an 18.2 percent finish from three in the world’s most famous arena, after all.

I’m kidding, but our resident conspiracy theorist who dabbles in phenomenal videography probably isn’t.

Anyway, Pope addressed those shooting woes after the loss, specifically how the volume and efficiency issues overlapped. When the Wildcats stopped creating shots for teammates and instead tried saving the day themselves individually, they took a beating.

“Man, we struggled,” he said. “We just fell into a space where it was trying to fix the team, me trying to make a play to fix the team instead of trying to fix the team by making a play for my team. I know that sounds 30,000-foot level, but it’s just — there was a bunch of possessions our guys wish they could get back. When they look at it, they’ll be like, man, that’s exactly what we don’t do.”

After letting the dust settle on the loss for a couple of days, Pope was asked about Kentucky’s shooting struggles coming off the team’s worst performance of the year. Is it a concern, knowing the Wildcats are hitting just 29.8 percent of their attempts dating back to Nov. 26 vs. Western Kentucky — a month sample size of abysmal shooting?

He’s more upset about the 181 attempts than the 54 makes.

“I’m just concerned about the volume. We’re in the mid-to-low 20s (per game) and it’s not where it’s supposed to be,” Pope said. “Most of that is creating shots for each other.”

After reviewing the tape, Kentucky could have and should have taken 20 additional 3-point attempts, pushing that 22 number to 42. Instead, players brought out their worst hero ball tendencies and fought to win the game as individuals rather than as a team.

That was the difference in the Wildcats’ 20-point loss.

“I was most disappointed with the Ohio State performance offensively in the sense they were giving us opportunities to earn — we could’ve earned 20 more threes in that game. We didn’t for a number of reasons,” he said. “The biggest thing is volume, the volume of 3-point field goal attempts is the marker for us. It’s a place where we have to make progress, and we will.

“You’ll see. You’ll see as we go throughout the season and continue to get better and better.”

Kentucky’s got to get the volume back up to 30-plus attempts before obsessing over the efficiency, says Pope.