Mark Pope: Referee decisions felt 'personal' in Auburn loss

Auburn knocked off Kentucky 75-74 Saturday night in Neville Arena to snap its five-game losing streak. The Tigers used a last-second tip-in from forward Elyjah Freeman to cement the win.

One play that defined the game was a costly Collin Chandler foul with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. On an inbounds play with Kentucky leading 74-73, Chandler pushed off an Auburn defender Kevin Overton and was called for a costly offensive foul.

This resulted in Auburn getting the ball, which ended with the Tigers making the game-winning shot. Kentucky head coach Mark Pope commented on the play following the game, saying that he felt the refereeing felt ‘super personal’.

“Well, we’re not allowed to talk about the referees. But you guys saw it, and I think sometimes it’s just super personal. So, I’m not allowed to comment on the referees and I won’t comment on the referees. It’s unfortunate. It’s just unfortunate. It didn’t cost us the game because we’re in control of the game, but we’ll find ways to go win.”

Mark Pope says he can’t comment on the ref’s call at the end but says sometimes it feels personal. pic.twitter.com/vy8OQq3VUd

— Dylan Ballard (@DylanBallard_UK) February 22, 2026

With the loss, Kentucky has now lost three consecutive SEC games (first time since 2020-21 season). Prior to the skid, the Wildcats had won eight of their last nine conference games and jumped back into the AP Poll Top 25 Rankings.

“There’s no message to our team,” Pope said. “We come to compete. We’re coming to compete. We’re a little shorthanded right now but we have control over winning and losing. I thought the guys put together a great effort tonight and we didn’t get the win. Now we get to work on Tuesday and go get the win. That’s what we do. We’re not sitting here trying to consider nonsense. We’re trying to win games.”

The 2025-26 Kentucky Basketball season has truly been one of ebbs and flows. The Wildcats opened the season with an extremely disappointing 9-6 record following back-to-back losses to kick off SEC play (Missouri and Alabama). It then won eight of nine conference games before dropping its last three games. The ‘Cats are now 5-8 in Q1 games, 3-2 in Q2 games, 3-0 in Q3 games, and 6-0 in Q4 games this season.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Kentucky was tabbed as a projected No. 7 seed in On3’s latest Bracketology. The loss to Auburn, which is projected as a No. 10 seed in the Bracketology, could slide the ‘Cats even further down the seed line.