Mark Pope rues ‘poorly coached’ Kentucky after loss to MSU

New York–following my team 83-66 loss To michigan state Tuesday night in the Champions Classic, kentucky Coach Mark Pope said his “message is not consistent with his players” and called the Wildcats “really poorly coached.”

Kentucky fell behind by nearly 24 points in the second half and suffered its second loss in the last three games. louisville Last week. During Tuesday’s broadcast, ESPN’s Chris Budden reported that Wildcats players were “barking at each other” during a second-half timeout.

Pope said, “We are a long way from the team we hope and aspire to be, and we can’t waste a second trying to evolve into that.” “We are disappointed and discouraged and completely confused at this time.”

It took Pope more than 50 minutes after the game to enter his post-game news conference, and he almost immediately began taking responsibility for Kentucky’s struggles.

“I know there’s a team that’s been really well coached and a team that’s been really poorly coached,” Pope said.

“People are not liking my message right now,” he said. “It’s my responsibility.”

Kentucky was without its starting point guard. jaland loweJoe has missed the last two games with a right shoulder injury and is projected to be a lottery pick. jayden quantanceWho is out due to a torn right ACL in February. Pope was asked if injuries were an excuse for the Wildcats’ early season inconsistencies.

He said, “If you build an organization right, your identity is not about any one person. Your identity is about a collective group.” “So it doesn’t matter that we have built a great organization and a great culture, which I have clearly failed to deliver on to date.

“But we will not fail this season. We have failed up until today. We will build an organization where we will not be disrupted every time someone comes and goes because we will have a team identity, not individual identities. We are going to have to really fight until we get there. That’s my job. That’s why Mitch [Barnhart] brought me here. I’m doing it poorly. “I won’t let it spoil much longer.”

Initially it did not seem that Tuesday’s game would end like this. Kentucky scored the first five points of the game and took a 17–14 lead. mohammed diaubet Dunk with 13:36 left in the first half. Michigan State would then go on a 30–10 run to end the half. Kentucky’s 27 points were tied for the fewest points scored in a half under Pope, and the 17-point halftime deficit was its second-largest deficit under Pope.

Kentucky showed signs of life in the second half, cutting Michigan State’s lead to 10 on two occasions midway through the period, but the Spartans went on a 13–1 run to put the game out of reach.

The mood on the Kentucky side was a stark contrast to that of Michigan State, which was off to a 4-0 start that included a win over Arkansas.

The Spartans made 11 3-pointers on Tuesday night, after making only 13 combined in their first three games of the season. Jackson Kohler finished with 20 points, and Jeremy Fears Jr.According to ESPN Research, dished out 13 assists, the most by a Michigan State player against an AP-ranked team since Mateen Cleaves in 1999, Fears had eight assists and zero turnovers in the second half,

Coach Tom Izzo said, “I thought Jeremy was below average early on, and the first time we shut him out.” “And after that, I thought he was brilliant.”

Michigan State dominated Kentucky on the boards and defeated the Wildcats 42–28, including 10 on the offensive glass.

“We know they have great team size at every position, and going into this game, we knew it was going to be a battle to go against them on the boards and everything,” Koehler said. “Like every position there was someone bigger or someone faster, and we knew that, as coach said, there was going to be a football game on the hardwood.”

The Spartans have been one of the models of retention and development in the modern era of college basketball, bringing back six players who were in the program last season, including three who started games. Four of Tuesday’s five starters were on last season’s team.

Against Kentucky, it mattered.

“Guys who are playing for the name on the front of their jersey because they know the name on the front of their jersey, guys who care about where they’re at and the players they’re with,” Izzo said. “I don’t give up on the guys I met. It’s what we call development, and it’s what you call working with players. You stick with them, and they stick with you.”

“Tonight, it was fun to see some of that come to fruition.”