Mark Pope explains why this Kentucky team could reach 30 three-point attempts per game

Ever since taking on the head coaching job at Kentucky, Mark Pope has talked a big game about wanting to fire off as many three-pointers as possible. 30 attempts per contest was the goal in his debut season with the Wildcats. They got to 25.3 per game in 2024-25, a top 80 mark in the country, on 37.5 percent shooting, a top 30 mark.

A lot of coaches would look at those numbers, smile, and figure out a way to replicate them the following season. But Pope is trying to push the envelope even further — he’s constantly searching for ways to find the maximum amount of triples allowed in a single game. He believes the 2025-26 Wildcats are even better suited to break that 30 three-pointer threshold than last season. And last season’s team set a program record for made threes in a season.

“I think we’re closer to playing it because we want to get more possessions in the game,” Pope said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “We’re fighting two battles right now analytically.”

Pope acknowledged that this edition of Kentucky won’t have a Koby Brea type — an elite knockdown shooter with size who could get off a clean look from almost anywhere. Brea led the SEC in three-point shooting last season at 43.5 percent before going off to play for the Phoenix Suns.

“This group might not have come in with the reputation as being as prolific three-point shooters as some of the guys we brought in last year,” Pope added.

But the depth of shooters is likely to be better this season. There are 7-8 guys on the roster who could all feasibly shoot 35 percent or better from deep. The progress Pope has seen throughout the offseason from those shooters has him confident enough to lean into scheming for more and more outside looks.

Another major reason why? This version of Kentucky is going to play even faster (and, ideally, even smarter) than it did a season ago while still trying to impact the game defensively at a higher rate.

“One of the things that we found interesting in our research this summer is top teams defensively actually extend out the defensive possession longer, almost eight seconds, universally for top 10, top 20 teams,” Pope said. “We’re trying to extend out this game on our defensive side of the ball and make it faster and more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball.

“We might be able to approach that number because I think we’re going to be capable of having more pace in this game. It’s always going to be more important how we play. The way we fundamentally approach this game is all about gravity. Everything we think about in this game is how do we treat gravity. You achieve gravity with space, great cutting, smart cutting, intelligent cutting, where you bring bodies together, then you create vacuums.”

Last season’s Kentucky team was designed to shoot three-pointers in bunches. This one isn’t, but it’s still built into the plan.

“Listen, there’s nobody in the world more proud that last year’s team made more threes than any team in the history of Kentucky basketball,” Pope said. “I would like to run that back times two this year. I think we have a group that can do it.”

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