Mark Pope calls out Kentucky players for not living up to team's standards

The Kentucky Wildcats added a win over NC Central on Tuesday night in a game that wasn’t particularly close. That would snap a two-game losing streak for the Wildcats. Even with that, head coach Mark Pope still thinks his team has a long way to go.

After the game, Pope was still visibly frustrated. There, he insisted that this team isn’t yet living up to the program’s standards.

“We just have a standard we have to live up to, and we’re not,” Mark Pope said. “And we have to. So, we’ll be fighting until we do.”

Kentucky is currently 6-4 and has suffered losses in every game they’ve played against Top 25 competition this season. That includes recently losing 94-59 to Gonzaga. In particular, there’s been frustration that the team isn’t tough enough.

Given that, it was notable when, with about eight minutes left, Brandon Garrison turned the ball over and didn’t run back on defense. That prompted Mark Pope to call a timeout and immediately, he began ripping into Garrison. Pope then benched Garrison for the remainder of the game.

“We just have a lot of growing that we have to do right now,” Pope said. “And we’ll grow. We have good guys. We have competitive guys. We don’t know really what it means to compete yet, which is terrifying. But we will. We’ll learn. We’re gonna learn. We’re gonna learn. We’re learning fast.”

Once Garrison hit the bench, Kentucky went on an 18-2 run. Still, Pope never seemed happy with his team visually.

Kentucky is going to have another chance to compete and play up to their ability on Saturday, December 13th. That’s when the Wildcats are scheduled to host Indiana. Certainly, the Wildcats will want to get things rolling by January 3rd when SEC play opens on the road against Alabama. They’ll have three more non-conference games before that point, though.

Mark Pope responds to DeMarcus Cousins claiming Kentucky has no heart

In the wake of the loss to Gonzaga, DeMarcus Cousins ripped Kentucky. However, Mark Pope didn’t mind the comments at all.

“I have no issue with what he said, in the sense of — like, if you’re watching that game, you feel like, starting with the coach, this product is completely unacceptable,” Pope said. “Unacceptable. I think that, as a former player here, I’m pissed at the coach too. That’s just all deserved. There’s nothing inappropriate about what he said at all.”