By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Coach Mark Pope relied on the fan base to give Kentucky a lift in an 87-68 win over Western Kentucky on Tuesday night.
“We can’t do this without BBN. and why would we want to, right?” Pope said “It’s the best relationship there is in college sports and maybe all sports together, right? I may be biased, but I believe it’s the best relationship in all sports. We love it.”
Kerr Kriisa agreed.
“It means a lot for us,” Kirssa said of the team’s fan base. “We don’t take that for granted. I don’t think it was completely sold out, but almost. You don’t ever take these games for granted. Once you go overseas, you are not going to have 20,000 people on a Tuesday night in a gym. I really cherish these moments right now.”
Pope praised the attendees who watched the Wildcats grind out a win over the Hilltoppers despite making a season-low eight 3-pointers in the double-digit victory.
“I love that people came and showed out and support these guys and celebrate with them and at some point we are all going to suffer a little bit together and then we are going to celebrate with tears of joy together and the fact we get to do it together,” he said. “All 22,000 of us, give or take something, is awesome. It’s awesome.”
One of those unnamed fans was making a first appearance at Rupp Arena Tuesday night.
‘We had a friend come to the game who has never missed a Kentucky game, ever,” Pope said. “This was the first time he’s ever actually been in the gym for a Kentucky game. That is just like, come on, man, there’s nothing like BBN. It’s awesome. It’s really great.”
Turkey wishes
Following his postgame press conference Tuesday night, Pope wished the media a Happy Thanksgiving.
“We’ve got a lot to be thankful for,” he said. “I’m super grateful for you guys and I’m grateful for you guys telling these stories. Even when you guys start writing terrible things about me, I will still be grateful for you. Have a happy Thanksgiving.”
The players also are looking forward to the holiday, especially the food.
“That is just a day where we can go crazy and eat.” guard Otega Oweh said. “I love food (and) that is what I am going to do.”
Halftime talk
Pope’s approach in the locker room at halftime Tuesday night was more about problem-solving as a group, compared to motivational speeches used by some coaches to inspire their respective teams.
“He asks us questions about what we see out there and stuff like that (and) a lot of it was kind of visible,” Oweh said. “They were driving on us a lot, so we had to guard better and we had to get some more boards. I think at halftime we only had like two more boards. A lot of it was trying to get back to what we do and be the more aggressive team because they were in the first half.”
Kentucky finished with 54 rebounds, including 38 defensive boards. The Wildcats outrebounded the Hilltoppers, 54-41.
“I thought we grounded up great,” Pope said. “I’m really proud of the guys. It’s fun, like we can win in different ways, that’s really, really important. That bodes well for our guys and our team. Being dominant on the glass and imposing our will physically was really, really important and I thought our guys did that.”
Gametracker: Georgia State at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Friday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network