Kentucky head coach Mark Pope had plenty to say after the Wildcats pulled off a tough 78-73 road win over Tennessee, praising his team’s resilience and key performances in a hostile environment. Facing the nation’s No. 1 defense and dealing with injuries to key players, Pope credited teamwide contributions and a fearless mentality for the victory.
Here’s what Pope had to say after the hard-fought SEC battle.
Opening Statement – “No Place We’d Rather Be”
Pope opened his postgame remarks by praising Tennessee and the job Rick Barnes has done in Knoxville.
“First, what an unbelievable job Rick's doing here. It's unbelievable what he's done in his tenure here. It's the No. 1 defensive team in the country, and they play hard and they're disruptive of everything.
It was an incredible environment. The gym was packed and jumping. We talked to the guys before the game about there's no place in the world that we would rather be than together right here, right now. So, I'm proud of them. It was an unbelievable game, really competitive and big punches on both sides, and we were fortunate to come away with the victory.”
Koby Brea Breaks Out of Slump with Clutch Shooting
Koby Brea had struggled in recent games, but that didn’t shake Pope’s confidence in his elite shooting ability.
“Man, he makes some hard shots, doesn’t he? It’s interesting, with these really special, gifted shooters… Someone asked me about Koby, that he hadn’t made a ton of shots in the past few games. We hadn’t spent zero seconds thinking about it.
Great shooters shoot and make shots. I think he’s arguably the best shooter in all of basketball in a lot of different aspects. My gosh, he made hard shots tonight. Whew. I mean, he's 3-for-3, and they were like three 10.7’s. They were unbelievable.”
Beyond his offense, Brea’s defensive effort stood out as well.
“He really gave us some life on the defensive end. My favorite play from Koby… it ended up being an iso, he was really physical, got his hands on the ball, and got called for a foul. Seeing his emotional release after that play. When you're watching the game, you're trying to see if the energy in the gym is right, and he was really special.”
Amari Williams Steps Up in a Major Way
With Kentucky missing key backcourt pieces, Pope relied heavily on Amari Williams—and the senior delivered.
“Amari Williams is like a 1-of-1. I'm asking him to do an impossible job right now.
Come into this gym, sold out, top-10 team, the No. 1 defense in the country, no point guard to be found on our roster. And I'm like, ‘Amari, it's up to you, and then BG [Brandon Garrison], you gotta be his wingman. You've got to control the whole game.’
Amari brought the ball up against the press, probably more than anybody else on our team. I'm telling you, this kid is special, man.”
Pope also made sure to point out that Williams’ birthday made the win even sweeter.
“It’s his birthday today. We didn’t sing to him. I was saving it for after the game. I was like, ‘Please let us win because if we have to sing to him after a loss, it's going to be sour and sad.’ But it was a joyful locker room.”
Williams finished the game with:
- 10 points (3-5 FG, 4-6 FT)
- 15 rebounds
- 4 assists
- Solid defensive presence
“There's not a center in the country that's had to carry a load like he had to carry tonight. It was incredible.”
Every Wildcat Contributed to the Win
Pope stressed that this was a full team effort, with multiple players stepping up in different ways.
“Jax [Jaxson Robinson] is a freaking gamer. He just is really special. TP [Travis Perry] is just getting better and better. I thought Collin Chandler's minutes in the backcourt were massively important for us tonight.
There were contributions from everybody, which we knew we'd have to have.”
Trent Noah and Ansley Almonor Deliver in Key Moments
With Andrew Carr limited to just over a minute, Trent Noah and Ansley Almonor took on bigger roles—and they delivered.
“We dearly miss Andrew Carr, and one of the best things is we got through the night without him having a setback.
In his stead, Ansley Almonor and Trent Noah, what? These guys have been unbelievable.
You guys know I love talking about Ansley Almonor winning us games. Dude was 4 of 7 from the 3-point line tonight, guys. Like, come on.
And Trent has been great in back-to-back games right now. You telling me Trent is not afraid of the moment? He just, out of nowhere, says, ‘I'm gonna launch this 30-footer, and we’ll just see what happens.’”
Pope had high praise for Almonor’s team-first mentality, calling him a difference-maker for the Wildcats. With Carr, Butler and Kriisa out for the foreseeable future, Pope will have to rely more on his bench than he has. So far these guys are really responding.
Kentucky’s Defense Forces Tennessee into 45 Three-Point Attempts
Tennessee hoisted 45 three-pointers, a number Pope was willing to live with.
“We had some guys shooting that we kind of wanted shooting… and they missed some for us.
I mean, they had like 62 threes in the last 17 seconds of the game, it felt like, because we couldn't grab a rebound.
Kentucky went the final 5 minutes without a FG and still won on the road.
“Godfidence” and the Team’s Resilience
Pope reflected on his team’s resilience and credited a powerful pre-game message from assistant coach Alvin Brooks.
“Coach Brooks gave the prayer before the game and prayed that we could have confidence, but even more importantly, that we could have ‘Godfidence.’
I'd never heard ‘Godfidence’ before, but I love it. This team is really faithful, and we’re trying to block out the noise and focus on what matters.”
Uniting around their common faith seems to be a rallying cry for this team.
Despite missing Lamont Butler and having Andrew Carr still recovering, Kentucky found a way to win on the road in a tough SEC battle.