Kentucky coach Mark Pope’s No. 12 Wildcats were blown out 83-66 by coach Tom Izzo’s No. 17 Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday evening. The loss at Madison Square Garden in the Champions Classic dropped the Wildcats to 3-2 for the season after losing to the Louisville Cardinals last week.
It was the second game of the season against Power Four opposition when the Wildcats looked overmatched after trailing by 20 points against Louisville; they also trailed by 24.0 points against Michigan State.
Mark Pope Distraught After Michigan State Blowout
During an interview with Jeff Goodman on “The Field Of 68: After Dark” after the game against Michigan State, a distraught Pope revealed his disappointment with the Wildcats’ erratic performance against the Spartans.
“We’re facing a monumental challenge right now, and I’m excited to see if we can figure it out. I’m disappointed at how disconnected we’ve been,” Pope said. “I thought I was doing a better job coaching than I’m doing right now. It’s been eye-opening for me a little bit, so I’m a little bit surprised.
“It’s everything. Developing a culture, it’s the right focus, the right schemes. It’s a poor job. The thing is, I can fix it, we can fix it. It’s a really disappointing result.”
After two games against the Loyola Greyhounds and Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, Pope will host another Power Four conference team at Rupp Arena when the undefeated No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels visit.
Pope Criticizes His Own Coaching
Michigan State put together one of its most complete performances of the season, shooting 50% from the field and a season-best 11-of-22 from three while holding Kentucky to just 35.1% overall and 7-of-30 from deep; the Spartans won bench points 34–22, built a 44–27 halftime lead behind 51.5% shooting, and never let the margin dip below 10 on the way to an 83-point season high and Kentucky’s lowest scoring output of the year.
In short, the Wildcats were outclassed everywhere on the floor by Izzo’s Spartans at Madison Square Garden. Pope’s team was outrebounded 42-28 and had 13 assists compared to Michigan State’s 25.
During his postgame news conference after the loss, Pope criticized his own coaching, culture, and team building.
“That’s my job. I’m doing it poorly,” Pope said. “I won’t do it poorly for much longer. If you build an organization the right way, then your identity is not about an individual person. Your identity is about a collective group.
“So it shouldn’t matter if we had built a great organization and a great culture. Which I’ve clearly failed to do up until today. But we won’t fail this season. We’ve just failed up until today.”
The Wildcats have trailed in 14 of 19 games away from the Rupp Arena in Pope’s tenure and have only come back to win three of those games, showcasing Kentucky’s Jekyll and Hyde form entering his second year in charge of the historic program.
