Mark Pope pays for Kentucky fans' ice cream after win vs. Georgia State

Mark Pope is a man of the people. As usual, Kentucky fans stuck around to hear from their head coach after the Wildcats’ 105-76 win over Georgia State on Friday evening.

Normally, Pope will stay after he concludes his radio appearance on the court to sign autographs into the wee hours of the night. However, Pope wasn’t able to stay on Friday, so he made a compromise with ‘Cats fans.

Instead of signing autographs, Pope left his credit card with the Taylor Belle’s soft serve ice cream stand in Rupp Arena, paying for any fans who wanted to get an ice cream cone for the road. Sitting at 7-0, Kentucky fans couldn’t be happier with first-year head coach Mark Pope.

“The word on the street is, here in Rupp Arena, we have the best ice cream in the world,” Pope said. “So, Mrs. Lee Anne dropped her credit card off at the ice cream stand right up here, so it’s on me tonight. Go help yourselves. Get some ice cream on the way out. Enjoy it, and thank you guys for coming here. Let’s go Cats.”

Mark Pope just said he couldn’t sign autographs after his radio show, but as a consolation prize, he left his credit card at the Rupp Arena ice cream stand for fans to get as much as they wanted on their way out

BBN rushes up the stairs to get some world-famous cones pic.twitter.com/n197UxAdaP

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) November 30, 2024

Kentucky gets into scuffle with Georgia State

Ice cream wasn’t the only unexpected treat Kentucky fans enjoyed on Friday night. In the second half of the showdown, a scuffle broke out after Panthers forward Clash Peters shoved Amari Williams in the back on defense. Kentucky guard Koby Brea immediately rushed to Williams’ aid, pushing Peters backward.

As the two teams began to clash,  Mark Pope ran onto the court, putting himself between his players and Georgia State’s athletes. After the melee was contained, the referees took several minutes to look back at the footage of the play.

In the aftermath, Georgia State’s Zarique Nutter and Clash Peters, as well as Kentucky’s Koby Brea and Otega Oweh, received technical fouls. Peters was initially ejected from the game but ultimately was allowed to return to the game.

Williams didn’t allow the dirty play to affect his game. The Drexel transfer only improved following the altercation, rattling off six straight points for Kentucky. In fact, the Wildcats seemed to respond as a team in general.

When the scuffle occurred, Kentucky only had an eight-point lead. Less than six minutes later, the Wildcats comfortably led Georgia State by 21 points. Rupp Arena didn’t hesitate to celebrate Kentucky’s gritty response, raining down cheers from the rafters.