Mark Pope shares his thoughts on Kentucky's next opponent, Loyola (MD)

Kentucky is a massive favorite tonight against Loyola (MD). The Wildcats should have very little problem taking care of the… *checks notes*… Greyhounds inside Rupp Arena (7:00 p.m. ET | SEC Network). After another disappointing showing from UK against a ranked team earlier this week, Loyola will serve as a get-right opportunity for Mark Pope‘s group. It’s a similar situation to last week, when Kentucky lost to Louisville only to beat down poor Eastern Illinois by 46 points a few days later.

The Big Blue Nation will be expecting a repeat of that when the ball is tipped against the Greyhounds.

Loyola, led by second-year head coach Josh Loeffler, is among the many teams Kentucky faces in the non-conference that rank next to the worst teams in the country. The Greyhounds come to Lexington ranked No. 292 by KenPom (for reference, Eastern Illinois is 314th) with a defense that ranks outside the top 300. Loyola returned over 62 percent of its minutes from last season and is among the top programs in terms of roster continuity, but that has resulted in a 2-4 start to the schedule, including a 66-64 loss to NJIT (No. 346 in KenPom).

Kentucky should cruise, but Pope isn’t one to downplay his opponent, especially with how his team didn’t look fully locked in during losses to Louisville and Michigan State. Loyola was even leading Duquesne (ranked No. 114 in KenPom) by 16 points on Wednesday night through eight minutes before the Dukes mounted a comeback.

“Good team. They’re playing well right now,” Pope said of Loyola on Thursday. “They just played a terrific game last night on the road at Duquesne, it was a good team. They change defenses; they’ll give us all different defensive looks. They had some guys that have been shooting it better and better and better. They had a player that I didn’t even know was on the roster that showed up last night and actually played well. They’re a good team. It’s going to be a good, competitive game. We’re looking forward to it.”

Loyola is paced by 6-foot-4 junior guard Jacob Theodosiou, who leads the Greyhounds with 17.2 points per outing, in addition to his 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.5 steals. He’s dropped 20 or more in three straight games now. 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Braeden Speed isn’t far behind with per-game averages of 13.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. Those two will play the majority of the contest and take plenty of shots.

As for the new player that popped up on Pope’s radar during Loyola’s 92-78 loss against Duquesne, that would be 6-foot-9 Australian forward Emmett Adair, who made his season debut in that outing. He finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes on 4-7 shooting (3-5 3PT). Adair sat out the first five games for Loyola due to illness. Also down low, 6-foot-10 junior forward Jonas Sirtautas does his damage inside with 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing while shooting 79.3 percent on two-pointers.

Loyola does a few things at a high level. The Greyhounds have held opponents to 27.7 percent shooting from deep on defense and have found success scoring inside the arc on offense. But this group also isn’t adept at getting to the line (or even making free throws; 64.6 percent for the season), struggles to rebound, can’t shoot well from long range, and doesn’t generate a ton of assists. There are obvious reasons why Kentucky is projected to win by 30-plus.

But even a 50-point Kentucky win tonight won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. The Wildcats failed to show up in their two biggest games so far this season, and that’s understandably where the worries lie within the fanbase. UK will use tonight against Loyola and next week against Tennessee Tech to tinker with the system and, ideally, be far more prepared to deal with North Carolina when the No. 18-ranked Tar Heels come to Rupp Arena on Dec. 2.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.