The honeymoon interval is formally over for Mark Pope at his alma mater, the College of Kentucky. The 1996 NCAA champion received off to a sizzling begin to start his teaching tenure at Kentucky, storming out to a 12-2 begin which included wins over Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville and Florida, however since, the Wildcats have dropped three of their final 5 video games, together with two in a row.
The most recent loss got here on Saturday afternoon to an unranked however very sport Vanderbilt Commodores squad that has pulled off a house court docket upset over a high ten opponent as soon as already this season, beautiful the Tennessee Volunteers solely per week previous to Kentucky’s go to to Nashville.
Now for as rabid of a fanbase as Huge Blue Nation will be, do not count on them to activate Mark Pope too fast. There can be an understanding that losses are anticipated in SEC play. There can be someplace within the neighborhood of a dozen groups from the Southeastern Convention that make the NCAA Match. To make issues worse, two of Mark Pope’s most vital gamers — Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr — are coping with lingering accidents.
Butler scored 6 factors and pulled down 3 rebounds in 27 comparatively ineffective minutes, however in response to Kentucky’s head coach, there was concern {that a} pre-existing shoulder damage was going to maintain Butler out altogether. However the fifth-year senior gutted it out and gave the Wildcats the whole lot he had.
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“Lamont has received so much proper now,” Pope stated after the loss, per Dan Morrison of On3. “Everyone knows what a warrior he’s. Man, he’s giving us the whole lot he’s received proper now however It’s onerous for him, bodily, proper now.”
Not like Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr was unable to take the ground towards the Commodores on Saturday afternoon. A again damage prevented the fifth yr senior from training for a number of weeks, and on Saturday, Pope made the choice to maintain him out for the sport.
“He desires to play so unhealthy and we had been simply sort of seeing a decline in his efficiency as a result of there’s simply a lot he can’t do together with his again. We had been trending the flawed route,” Pope stated, in response to Barkley Truax of On3. “He hasn’t practiced in a pair weeks. And each sport it’s sort of like, he simply will get beat up so unhealthy it’s again to sq. one, the place it’s onerous for him to stroll primarily.”
Butler and Carr mix to present the Wildcats over 24 factors, 13 rebounds and 5 assists per sport, however possibly extra vital than their affect on the stat sheet is their collective expertise. Collectively, Butler and Carr have 283 video games of expertise beneath their belt, which is important for a staff that has been constructed primarily by way of the switch portal.