By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats have hit a speed bump after suffering two straight setbacks twice in the past month.
Squeezed in between a win at Tennessee, the Wildcats (15-7, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) have lost two straight, including back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Ole Miss.
“We’re dealing with some frustration right now, but we’ll continue to get better,” Pope said after Kentucky’s 98-84 loss to the Rebels. “… For us, the biggest frustration we’re feeling right now is on the defensive end and I’m doing a poor job of finding answers for that right now.”
Kentucky forced just one turnover, while Ole Miss shot 55 percent from the field. The Rebels also made 13 3-pointers in the double-digit victory.
“My guys are playing hard, I’m doing a poor job with our team defensively right now,” Pope said. “It’s a credit to Ole Miss and it’s a real issue for me and I’ve got to figure out how to help our team have more of a presence.”
On the flip side, Pope’s squad connected on 10 3-pointers and shot more than 50 percent from the field. Kentucky attempted just 21 shots from long range. Pope’s goal is more than 30 attempts per game.
“Our lack of pace right now has been a little bit troublesome for us,” Pope said. “We’re trying to work on a lot of things and so our pace is suffering right now and that hurts us a little bit. But that’s certainly a sign of something we’d like to do better. With that said, where we’re really feeling the onus of the issue right now is trying to figure out this defensive side of the ball.”
Although Kentucky outscored Ole Miss 53-44 in the second half, Pope wasn’t into celebrating the feat.
“We don’t do moral victories at all. But, we also will try and build on things that we do well,” Pope said. “I thought we had some pace in the second half. It was much better, and we did it by sharing the ball. Ole Miss missed a couple of shots for us, and so we got to get out in transition. That’s really important. After a make or a miss, we’ve got to find our way back into transition, that’s really important for us. So that was a positive.”
Following the loss, Pope said it was “hard to find positives” but added “there “certainly were some.”
“We’ll continue to expound on the things the guys did well,” Pope said. “We’re in a tough spot right now as a team and we’re searching for answers. It’s not going to get easier. This is the job. I’m glad I get to do this with these guys and we’re going to go find answers and we’re going to have unbelievable success as we go. But this is certainly a hard space for us right now.”
GAMETRACKER: South Carolina at Kentucky, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network.