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Mark Pope promises Kentucky 'won't sleep, we won't eat' until it gets better

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs9 hours agogrant_grubbs_
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Nov 11, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope calls out instructions during the second half against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Kentucky 96-88. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Mark Pope was dejected after Kentucky‘s blowout loss against Michigan State on Tuesday. After Kentucky’s bounce-back 88-46 triumph over Loyola Maryland on Friday, a reporter asked Pope about his uncharacteristic reaction to the Wildcats’ previous loss and how he’s doing in general.

“Are you asking if I’m sick?” Pope said with a smile. “We need to play better and we got to get better. We will stop at nothing to get better. There’s nothing that will stop us from getting better and we won’t sleep, we won’t eat. We won’t do anything until we get better. We are going to get better. That’s going to take every ounce of our soul to do it. There’s nothing that will stop us from getting better and achieving what we are going to achieve this year.

“If you feel anything from me, feel that. I might not sleep as much, that’s great, because this is the greatest opportunity and a great group of guys. We are destined to do something really special and we are far, far from that and it’s not acceptable. And so, I appreciate you asking, but yeah, I’m great. This is actually my happy space right now. The determination to like 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 and we are in it now. 

“We are not leaving it. We are in it and we are going to push it and we are going to make progress.  I’m actually better than okay. Like I said, this is my heaven right here. It’s hard. But we have something really good here and we are going to make sure that we get there. Thanks for your concern.”

After winning a record-high eight games against AP top 15 opponents in the 2024-25 campaign, Kentucky is 0-2 against ranked foes this season. It’s been a difficult pill for Pope to swallow, and he isn’t interested in tasting defeat again.

The second-year HC made some significant changes to Kentucky’s rotation Friday evening. Most notably, Pope replaced junior big man Brandon Garrison in the starting lineup with true freshman Malachi Moreno.

Additionally, Mark Pope gave transfer guard Kam Williams his first start. Williams received a career-high 26 minutes of action on Friday after only averaging 16.8 minutes per game through Kentucky’s first five outings.

Williams took advantage of his opportunity, tallying 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He may not continue to start when Mouhamed Dioubate returns from his ankle injury, but he’s certainly earned more minutes moving forward.

Up next, Kentucky will square off against Tennessee Tech on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. The Wildcats’ following game will be against North Carolina on Dec. 2 in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge.