Mark Pope after 71-point exhibition win: "We are deadly serious about winning"

It was just an exhibition, but there’s no denying the buzz around the fanbase as we digest Kentucky’s 123-52 win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The 71-point margin of victory was Kentucky’s largest in a game since the 93-point win over Asbury in November 2016. The Cats hit 21 of 42 threes (which would have tied a school record if it were a regular-season game) and totaled 32 assists to just five turnovers. The shooting and ball movement were like a breath of fresh air for a fanbase that had been stuck in a stuffy room for too long.

The competition only gets tougher from here — Kentucky’s next exhibition opponent, Minnesota State, won the Division II championship last year — but you could not have scripted a better debut for Pope and his first Kentucky roster. After the game, Pope was asked if he wanted to win big because it was his first game as head coach. He made it clear that he always wants to win big.

“We are deadly serious about winning,” Pope said. “Winning matters. I don’t spend a lot of time – I don’t spend as much time – I know this sounds very contradictory. I don’t know exactly how to explain it. We are here to win. This is Kentucky. The first time we don’t win a game, you guys are all going to go burn my house down. Okay?”

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By now, Pope has made it clear he understands the assignment of winning, but to see the Cats win that big in their first outing was heartening, even if it was just an exhibition. Although this Kentucky team is loaded with experienced players, it was their first time playing a game together and at Rupp Arena, a fact that hit home with Pope during the shootaround.

“So much new today as we went through our first game day. There were a couple of funny moments in shootaround where I was just moving on to the next thing and I realized that nobody on the team knew what the next thing was because we’ve not got anybody that’s done it besides Jaxson [Robinson]. These guys did a great job taking on all the new and really executing it. That’s our standard. That’s what we expect from our guys and I was proud of that. I was pleased with it more than surprised.”

Although the Cats stuffed the stat sheet, Pope said he was focused most on their energy in their debut. In what feels like a preview of what is to come from Pope, he said he likes his players to keep their emotional energy between 3-5 on a scale of 1-10 most of the time and between 9-9.5 during games, “where we can still function and make decisions.” He didn’t share what he thought that number was last night, but the box score should serve as proof.

“I took a shot at the guys before the game in the locker room and I was really trying to spend all of my energy trying to gauge our energy and the guys were probably better than I was in terms of the energy that they came out with, to be able to have great intensive energy but still be a decision-maker and execute. We are spending a lot more time thinking about those things.”

“Then this just happens because of what we are focusing on,” Pope added, holding up the box score.