Feb 4, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope gives direction during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
The Kentucky Wildcats were ready to get their sixth win of the season as an underdog on Tuesday when they faced Ole Miss on the road, but they dug a hole that was too much to get out of. The Rebels were able to score at will in the first half, draining nine threes and getting to the rim with ease as well. Kentucky's offense couldn't do much of anything either early on, as Ole Miss' defensive pressure was very overwhelming.
After better effort from the Wildcats in the second half, clawing back down as much as 27 points, it wasn't enough, as Kentucky got the Rebel lead as close as 11 in the second half. Kentucky is now dealing with back-to-back losses, the previous one at home on Saturday against Arkansas. That has Kentucky searching for answers, especially defensively. Mark Pope says Kentucky is dealing with a lot of frustration as a team right now, really trying to figure out some answers to their recent struggles. He talked about it after the loss on Tuesday.
"We're dealing with a lot of frustration right now, but we'll continue to get better. ...For us, the biggest frustration we're feeling right now is on the defensive end. I'm doing a poor job of finding answers for that right now. Our guys are playing hard, I'm doing a poor job with our team defensively right now. It's a credit to Ole Miss. It's a real issue for me, and I gotta figure out how to help our team have more of a presence. ...We've played against two teams back-to-back now where their bigs really have shot it tremendously well against us, and that's problematic for us. The solutions are complicated sometimes, and I'm doing a poor job of finding the right one."
Adding to that, Pope said it was both close-out struggles and teams shooting better than normal against Kentucky as of late for reasons why they have been struggling defending the three-ball. Both of those things were very prominent in their blowout loss on Tuesday.
They'll need a get-right game against South Carolina in Rupp Arena on Saturday, who is currently 0-9 in SEC play.