Kentucky is bruised and battered. Three straight losses have flipped the season on its head, turning a team that was fighting for first place in the SEC into one fighting for its NCAA Tournament life.
The players and the staff feel cheated out of a win they believe they earned Saturday night at Neville Arena. But with another game staring them in the face, the question isn’t whether they were wronged; it’s whether there was enough time to recover from it.
Mark Pope didn’t wait long to show how angry he was. After stepping away from the podium, Pope unloaded toward athletic director Mitch Barnhart.
“Mitch, if those motherfers (he said it just like that, not the full word) try to fine me, screw them. I didn’t say a word about how they cheated us.”
Otega Oweh echoed the frustration on Instagram, posting to his story:
“these refs gon do it every time.”
Both reactions were aimed squarely at the offensive foul called on Collin Chandler late in the game. A charge whistled as Chandler tried to break free from an Auburn defender who appeared to be draped all over him. He did extend his arm. It was called. And that was that.
Now Kentucky has to turn the page immediately and get ready for a South Carolina team that sits under .500 overall but is a dangerous 11-6 at home. That matters because this is a building Kentucky has never been comfortable in.
Kentucky has a losing record at Colonial Life Arena
Since the arena opened in 2009, Kentucky is just 5-6 in Columbia, losing three of the last four trips. The most recent visit came in January 2024, when South Carolina routed the Wildcats 79-62 under John Calipari. Pope and his staff answered back last season with an 80–57 win at Rupp Arena, but that doesn’t travel with you.
This is a game Kentucky cannot afford to lose, and absolutely cannot afford to overlook.
Still, that raises the hardest question of all: how do you pick yourself up after a game you genuinely believe was taken from you? A game that could have righted a ship that had found choppy waters.
This group has shown resilience all season. They climbed from 5-4 to 17-7 by responding every time the season looked shaky. Now they’re right back in it again. Can they dump the emotional baggage, reset in less than 72 hours, and play a team with nothing to lose in a building where Kentucky loses more often than it wins?
That’s the challenge in front of Mark Pope. One more response buys breathing room. Another knockout blow, and the Wildcats may be on the canvas for the 10 count.