Things are bleak for Mark Pope and Kentucky basketball. They are just 9-5, 1-5 against the top-25 this year, and the 1 win is St. John's, which is no longer ranked. Worse than the losses, they have been blown out in several of them, and have found themselves down 20 or more in several of them. But this latest projection from EvanMiya would probably cost Mark Pope his job.
That statistician has Kentucky going a shocking 16-15, 7-11 in the SEC. That would have them on the bubble for the NIT.
Kentucky basketball finds itself in a shocking situation
Mark Pope said he had a "Ferrari" before the season started, one he could not wait to get out on the court for a test drive. That test drive has resulted in one of the worst seasons in recent memory. Not only does Kentucky have 5 losses, but they were also completely embarrassed in several games that were never even competitive.
This is Kentucky, you can't have that. Losing happens; that is just the nature of the business. But finding yourself down 20 to Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and Alabama all in the same season? That signifies something is deeply wrong.
Yes, there are injuries. Jayden Quaintance is just getting back, and Jaland Lowe is limited with his shoulder. But that doesn't excuse the lack of effort, attention to detail, and overall poor performance this team has had this season.
If you eliminate the buy games, this is Kentucky's stat profile:
Kentucky team stats vs Power 5 teams in 2025-2026 (7 Games)
- Record in this span: 2-5
- Total Points: 501 (71.6 PPG)
- Field Goals: 166-416 (39.9%)
- 3-Point FGs: 38-161 (23.6%)
- Free Throws: 129-175 (73.7%)
- Rebounds: 241 (34.4 RPG)Offensive: 81 (11.6 RPG)Defensive: 160 (22.9 RPG)
- Assists: 79 (11.3 APG)
- Turnovers: 75 (10.7 TPG)
- Steals: 50 (7.1 SPG)
- Blocks: 32 (4.6 BPG)
- Fouls: 134 (19.1 per game)
Look at that shooting percentage, under 40% total, and under 24% from deep. That is absolutely disgusting to look at it, but it gets worse when you look at the individual players:
Otega Oweh (7 Games)
- Minutes: 224 (32.0 MPG)
- Points: 105 (15.0 PPG)
- FG: 33-82 (40.2%)
- 3PT: 6-22 (27.3%)
- FT: 33-46 (71.7%)
- Rebounds: 35 (5.0 RPG)
- Assists: 14 (2.0 APG)
- Turnovers: 12
- Steals: 11
- Blocks: 4
Denzel Aberdeen (7 Games)
- Minutes: 191 (27.3 MPG)
- Points: 74 (10.6 PPG)
- FG: 26-77 (33.8%)
- 3PT: 6-27 (22.2%)
- FT: 16-19 (84.2%)
- Rebounds: 21 (3.0 RPG)
- Assists: 18 (2.6 APG)
- Turnovers: 8
- Steals: 6
- Blocks: 1
Malachi Moreno (7 Games)
- Minutes: 161 (23.0 MPG)
- Points: 49 (7.0 PPG)
- FG: 19-28 (67.9%)
- 3PT: 0-0 (0.0%)
- FT: 11-15 (73.3%)
- Rebounds: 39 (5.6 RPG)
- Assists: 8
- Turnovers: 7
- Steals: 6
- Blocks: 9
Collin Chandler (7 Games)
- Minutes: 167 (23.9 MPG)
- Points: 41 (5.9 PPG)
- FG: 14-41 (34.1%)
- 3PT: 8-24 (33.3%)
- FT: 9-10 (90.0%)
- Rebounds: 18 (2.6 RPG)
- Assists: 11
- Turnovers: 8
- Steals: 8
- Blocks: 4
Brandon Garrison (7 Games)
- Minutes: 110 (15.7 MPG)
- Points: 27 (3.9 PPG)
- FG: 11-20 (55.0%)
- 3PT: 2-2 (100.0%)
- FT: 3-6 (50.0%)
- Rebounds: 25 (3.6 RPG)
- Assists: 5
- Turnovers: 3
- Steals: 2
- Blocks: 5
Jasper Johnson (7 Games)
- Minutes: 62 (8.9 MPG)
- Points: 17 (2.4 PPG)
- FG: 6-27 (22.2%)
- 3PT: 1-16 (6.3%)
- FT: 4-5 (80.0%)
- Rebounds: 5 (0.7 RPG)
- Assists: 4
- Turnovers: 3
- Steals: 2
- Blocks: 0
Kam Williams (6 Games)
- Minutes: 102 (17.0 MPG)
- Points: 30 (5.0 PPG)
- FG: 9-24 (37.5%)
- 3PT: 3-12 (25.0%)
- FT: 9-11 (81.8%)
- Rebounds: 12 (2.0 RPG)
- Assists: 4
- Turnovers: 2
- Steals: 2
- Blocks: 2
Trent Noah (5 Games)
- Minutes: 51 (10.2 MPG)
- Points: 11 (2.2 PPG)
- FG: 3-7 (42.9%)
- 3PT: 2-6 (33.3%)
- FT: 3-4 (75.0%)
- Rebounds: 4 (0.8 RPG)
- Assists: 4
- Turnovers: 4
- Steals: 2
- Blocks: 0
Jaland Lowe (5 Games)
- Minutes: 111 (22.2 MPG)
- Points: 47 (9.4 PPG)
- FG: 13-40 (32.5%)
- 3PT: 4-14 (28.6%)
- FT: 17-22 (77.3%)
- Rebounds: 13 (2.6 RPG)
- Assists: 13 (2.6 APG)
- Turnovers: 7
- Steals: 3
- Blocks: 1
Mouhamed Dioubate (5 Games)
- Minutes: 104 (20.8 MPG)
- Points: 43 (8.6 PPG)
- FG: 15-28 (53.6%)
- 3PT: 1-5 (20.0%)
- FT: 12-19 (63.2%)
- Rebounds: 35 (7.0 RPG)
- Assists: 3
- Turnovers: 6
- Steals: 7
- Blocks: 3
Andrija Jelavić (4 Games)
- Minutes: 59 (14.8 MPG)
- Points: 12 (3.0 PPG)
- FG: 6-14 (42.9%)
- 3PT: 0-10 (0.0%)
- FT: 0-0 (0.0%)
- Rebounds: 9 (2.3 RPG)
- Assists: 0
- Turnovers: 3
- Steals: 0
- Blocks: 2
Jayden Quaintance (2 Games)
- Minutes: 41 (20.5 MPG)
- Points: 15 (7.5 PPG)
- FG: 7-11 (63.6%)
- 3PT: 0-0 (0.0%)
- FT: 1-5 (20.0%)
- Rebounds: 14 (7.0 RPG)
- Assists: 1
- Turnovers: 2
- Steals: 1
- Blocks: 2
Picking a starting 5 and a rotation out of that mess is hard to do. And that is where Mark Pope is, he is searching and looking for answers in a roster that right now is just devoid of them.
Play Lowe, Oweh, Williams, Dioubate, and JQ? Not a single player averages above 28% from deep against Power 5 teams in that lineup. Teams crowd the paint, make drives impossible, and dare you to win from the outside. The Cats have zero confidence in their outside shot right now, and the numbers say they shouldn't. But that limits you offensively. You must be elite defensively, force turnovers, share the ball, and get easy shots to play this lineup. They do none of that right now.
Throw a shooter like Noah or Chandler in, and now you lose defensive ability. There are just no easy answers for this team right now with the way they are playing and the way the roster is built.
You have coaches like Nate Oats questioning their offense, former coach Norm Roberts calling out their identity, and fans questioning if Mark Pope is the guy to lead this team to where BBN expects them to be. There are a lot of questions in Lexington right now.
The answer is not an easy one; every player on the team has to play better than they currently are. They all have to take a step forward in nearly every category and become the team people crowned as national title contenders before the season started.
If they don't, then EvanMiya's prediction of missing the NCAA Tournament will be more like Nostradamus predicting the Great Fire of London.