Mark Pope mostly remembers his losses to Mississippi State

Kentucky may have won the last 18 regular-season games vs. Mississippi State, but Mark Pope has a losing record against the Bulldogs and their coach. Pope went 1-2 vs. Mississippi State during his playing days at Kentucky and 1-3 vs. Jans when the two were coaching in the Western Athletic Conference, Pope at Utah Valley and Jans at New Mexico State. Fortunately, he is undefeated at Humphrey Coliseum, the site of Saturday night’s game.

Pope’s lone win over the Bulldogs came in Starkville, a 74-56 victory over the No. 12 Bulldogs on January 9, 1996. Pope had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and a block, but told reporters on Thursday that he’s been having trouble trying to remember much about the game all week.

“I actually remember very little. I remember Erick Dampier, who was a terrific pro and a terrific college player. And I remember Dontae Jones. I remember going to Starkville and having a big win in a really physical game and I remember the vibe in the gym was electric like it usually is there and I remember high-level competition. It was fun that year, both of us were in the Final Four.”

One of the reasons Pope probably has trouble remembering the win over Mississippi State in Starkville? The Cats lost their next game vs. the Bulldogs, in the finals of the SEC Tournament in New Orleans. It was the last loss the 1996 team would take. Dontae Jones played a starring role in the 84-73 upset, scoring 28 points on 12-18 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds. It was quite an about-face from Jones’ performance in the regular-season game, during which he turned the ball over nine times.

“But then he blew us up in the SEC championship,” Pope recalled ruefully. “Man, he lost his mind, him and everybody else on the team. And, I mean we had walk-ons making one-foot runners from 17 feet. That’s why this game is so beautiful.”

Losses have a way of sticking with you; in the best cases, that’s because they serve as a turning point. That’s what Pope is hoping will happen following his team’s third loss of the season at Georgia.

“You know, I forcibly went to try to remember our game at Mississippi State, which I remember somewhat that we won. But like, all the stories I tell are from the SEC Championship when we lost to Mississippi State, and that’s how you build a season.”

“If you ask me about [the 1995-96] season, I remember a lot of games, but I remember [the loss to] UMass, the second game of the season, and I can tell you a lot of details from that. And it’s these hard moments to make you grow too.”

The road isn’t going to get any easier for Kentucky this season. Although the Georgia loss sounded some alarm bells about the Cats’ ability to be physical and win on the road, Pope has faith that his team will turn those losses into lessons in time for a postseason run.

“I’m telling you, it’s what makes basketball special, when you can take the hard moments and turn them into something great. I do think we have a group that’s capable of doing that. And I think we have tremendous resilience, a tremendous resolve, and I think the guys have shown that a bunch this season already. And now we’re facing the biggest challenge we have all year, on Saturday, going on the road for this game, and man, let’s go roll it out and see what we can do. Let’s go.”

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