Mark Pope was haunted by memories of his loss to Louisville last night

On Friday, Mark Pope was asked what his memories of the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry are and gave a simple answer: “winning.” Turns out it goes a little deeper than that. Upon further review Friday night, Pope remembered that he actually lost to the Cardinals in his first season as a Wildcat, which prompted a panic attack.

“You guys know I have a terrible memory. I actually was with Lee Anne yesterday, and it was last night as we’re sitting there trying to figure, you know? So I looked up the two games that I actually played in, and the game my junior year, we lost by two at Louisville. And when I saw it, I was like, wait, what?”

It’s true. Kentucky lost to Louisville 88-86 in Freedom Hall on Jan. 1, 1995, with Pope scoring 9 points on 4-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the free-throw line. He also had a team-high 10 rebounds, but none of that mattered on the bus ride back to Lexington.

“And then I remember, I promise you, I remember now it was like, locked away. The bus ride home from Louisville, I was in a full-on, like, teary-eyed sweat last night. I had blocked it out of my memory and all of a sudden, it all came rushing back. I mean, I’m starting to sweat right now. You get locked in the bus with Coach [Pitino] for an hour and a half after a two-point loss against Louisville? Holy. I wouldn’t wish that on any of you actually. I bet only half of you guys would come out alive, I kid you not.”

Kentucky won in Pope’s senior season 89-66, but something tells me it didn’t do much to take the sting off that loss the previous season. Hopefully, tonight’s 93-85 win over the Cards, his first as Kentucky’s head coach, did.

Pope on the Kentucky Legends video

This morning, Kentucky released a video in which 15 former players read letters they wrote to the 15 current players about the Louiville rivalry. Each of the former Cats featured had big moments against the Cards and were eager to pass the knowledge on to the new guys. As a fan, it was emotional enough hearing Ramel Bradley, Kenny “Sky” Walker, Tayshaun Prince, Willie Cauley-Stein, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Dominique Hawkins, John Pelphrey, Travis Ford, Darius Miller, Patrick Sparks, Tony Delk, Deron Feldhaus and Jim Master talk about the rivalry. I can only imagine what it was like as a player.

After sharing his own Louisville memories, Pope gave a shoutout to Kentucky’s staff for putting the video together. As he said, it’s the best testament to what the rivalry means.

“Nathan Schwake, Jake Most, and Billy Toombs and our media and alumni team did something really cool that I thought was so special,” Pope said. “They found 15 players, former players, and they had them each write a letter to our 15 current players about what this game means to them and that probably says it better than I ever could.

“If you haven’t seen it, take a look at it. It’s really special to our guys, and I think it’s what Kentucky basketball is, man. It’s generation after generation being connected and understanding what it means. But those letters, I’ve got a copy of each of them on my desk. They’re really, really special to me, and I think they’re special to our guys. And some time, 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now, our guys are going to be writing letters to the next generation of players, and keeping this connection going. And that’s really special. It’s super cool.”

You can watch the players read their individual letters from the former Cats here. Sounds like a great way to celebrate another big win over the Cards.