KSR's news, notes and takeaways from this week's Mark Pope Show

Moral victories don’t exist at Kentucky, but the Wildcats’ effort in the loss in Gainesville didn’t leave the sky falling in Lexington for a change. They once again dug themselves a double-digit deficit, but clawed back to cut it to two in the second half and had it within five in the final minute, one Florida mess-up away from potentially completing the comeback. Make some free throws and layups and there is a very real chance Mark Pope’s group wins nine of 10 and takes over the SEC lead.

The second-year coach was joined once again by Tom Leach for his weekly radio show Monday evening, recapping the loss to the Gators while previewing what’s ahead with Georgia coming to town on Tuesday. What do you need to know about his hour-long media appearance? KSR has the news, notes and takeaways.

Tape revealed what everyone already knew: ‘Florida is a really good team.’

We all left the loss saying the Gators were a wagon in the SEC, boasting the league’s best frontcourt with a backcourt that is slowly but surely living up to the hype. What did the tape show after the dust settled?

Nothing different.

Pope was pleased with the effort, but the execution left much to be desired. That’s how they felt in real time and it’s what the film explained in 4K.

“I saw everything that we saw in the game. I thought our guys competed. I thought that it was nothing really new on tape that we didn’t see in real time,” Pope said. “Some of the issues that we anticipated, we solved, but we didn’t solve others. We left a lot on the table offensively. We also learned a lot. I thought we made some really positive adjustments. Our guys did. We got it to five there in the last minute. We were at 43-41 and inexplicably ran away from the ball a couple times. There were some defensive miscues.

“I thought our guys really, really competed. We didn’t play great, but we really, really competed. Florida is a really good team.”

Xaivian Lee had his best game as a Gator

The biggest thorn in Kentucky’s side, completely changing the trajectory of the game, essentially from the opening tip? Lee, who came in shooting 21 percent from three during SEC play, going for 22 points on 7-12 shooting and 4-7 from three.

There were gripes about the Wildcats going under on screens and allowing the senior guard to fire away with space, but Pope actually didn’t mind the Princeton transfer getting shots up — because before his 3-9 performance against Georgia last week, he had gone 1-14 from deep in his previous three games.

You just can’t let him get beer muscles by leaving him wide-stinking-open, turning him into something he’s not. That’s what UK did.

“Lee was 3-9 against Georgia, and it was one of his more positive shooting outings. We went into the game thinking maybe he would shoot more true to form the way he had this season,” Pope said. “The truth is that he’s on the uptick right now and he got his best performance against us, and we didn’t execute exactly the way we wanted to with him. He was terrific, he actually played really well — as did their backcourt. Their backcourt was really good.”

Silence on officiating

Florida was in the bonus with 14:16 to go in the game while Kentucky was still shooting one-and-ones at the 1:21 mark. There was a 17-9 foul differential in the second half with a 25-14 difference in free throw attempts after the break. Officiating was pretty abysmal, so it shouldn’t shock you that Pope was asked about it during his radio show.

He’s been quick to publicly praise officials during his time coaching the Cats, going as far as to say he attends referee symposiums to learn just how difficult their jobs are. It allows him to give them grace when calls aren’t going his team’s way.

Does he still feel that way? Pope let some dead air linger before sharing his calculated response.

“Sometimes silence is the greatest communicator,” he joked.

After some laughs, he went back to playing the hits to avoid getting fined.

“These referees, man, they train non-stop. They analyze non-stop — it’s a real skill, it’s a real talent,” Pope said. “… They have a hard job. I think we can all be frustrated at times, but we can also appreciate how difficult a job they have.”

Georgia will be a ‘handful’ for Kentucky

No time for these Wildcats to feel sorry for themselves, knowing they had the No. 1 spot in the SEC within reach before dropping down to No. 4 with the loss. If they’re not careful, they could drop even lower before the clock strikes midnight on Wednesday, hosting a desperate Georgia team that has lost five of six after starting the year 13-1.

What are Pope’s thoughts on the Bulldogs? They’re versatile and can attack you in a number of ways with multiple styles of play. Overlook Mike White’s squad and one loss will become two in the blink of an eye.

“They’re a really good team,” Pope said. “Can put out a massive frontline when they want to. They can play four guards. They really, really shoot it when they want to. They’re one of the top three-point attempt teams in our league. They play faster than anybody in the league. It’s nice that we have them and Florida back-to-back, because it’s kept a really consistent focus on transition defense and how we can attack that.

“They’re a good team. They’ve had huge wins and we expect a handful from them tomorrow night.”

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We’ll see just how quickly the Wildcats can move past the Gators with a chance to win nine of their last 11.