Kentucky rolled to an 88-46 win over Loyola Maryland tonight, but it says something that Mark Pope fielded just as many questions about Tuesday night’s loss to Michigan State as he did tonight’s victory. Pope assured reporters that he is fine after Kentucky’s bad trip to New York and is in his “happy place” as he helps the Cats dig out of the early-season hole.
“I’m great. I actually am. This is actually my happy space right now. The determination to get down in the mud and grow and do it sleeplessly and relentlessly and get better every single day and push every single button and try every single new thing, that’s actually how you build something great.”
Kentucky’s first real test won’t come until they host North Carolina on Dec. 2, but tonight was a good start. The Cats cruised past the Greyhounds, with five players finishing in double figures and nine scoring overall. Kentucky forced a season-high 16 turnovers and dished 11 assists while holding Loyola MD to 46 points, the fewest by an opponent this season, on 29% shooting. Kam Williams and Malachi Moreno started and shone, with Williams coming up one rebound shy of a double-double. Pope was pleased with them and the entire squad for their efforts. Even the walk-ons, Walker Horn and Zach Tow, got in on the fun, checking in with about a minute to go.
“It’s really important that we monitor the joy in the gym. That hasn’t been a space that has been great for us the last 10 days, appropriately so. There’s not a lot of joy in losing. There’s no joy there. The joy is in like, growing and becoming something, but it’s really important.
“This group is going to take care of each other. We’re going to learn to take care of each other. We’re going to learn to fight for each other in a really epic way. We’re not there yet. We don’t deal with the physicality of the game well. We don’t deal with the intensity of the game well — yet. Those are yet, it’s like yet is the most powerful three-letter word in the world, right? We’re not doing those things yet, but we will. It’s gonna be fun. I can’t wait till we get there.”
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