"A legit threat" - Dick Vitale praises Mark Pope, Kentucky despite Alabama defeat ahead of March Madness

Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats lost 96-83 to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday evening. The Wildcats led by as many as 12-points in the first half before the No. 4 Crimson Tide turned the screws to win the game and complete the regular-season sweep of Pope's team.

On Sunday, legendary ESPN announcer Dick Vitale praised the Kentucky coach and his team for their effort against the Crimson Tide and predicted that they would be a serious threat during March Madness.

"After seeing the in person vs the talented @AlabamaMBB team I’m impressed by what @CoachMarkPope has done. With the return of Lamont Butler & Jaxson Robinson BBN will be a legit threat @MarchMadnessMBB time. Playing in the @SEC w/o ur starting guards is TOUGH!" Vitale tweeted.

During his postgame news conference, the under-pressure Mark Pope snapped at a reporter who questioned how the Crimson Tide were able to neutralize Kentucky's greatest offensive threat, Otega Oweh, to just 2.0 points.

“You baiting me into an answer here,” Mark Pope said. “I think Alabama is a terrific defensive team. Really disappointing outcome. Congratulations to Alabama. They’re a terrific team. They play really hard. They responded well to their last two setbacks, and we just couldn’t quite slow them down enough for long enough to win the game.

"The game got a little helter-skelter. We got a little fatigued. We had some protection issues. We had some defensive coverage issues."

Mark Pope highlights growing pains for Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats have had a rough February and have lost six of their last 10 games. The defeat to the Alabama Crimson Tide was the seventh conference loss of the season for Mark Pope's team. The Wildcats have an 18-9 record and have lost eight of their 15 Quad One matchups to put them in a precarious situation ahead of March Madness.

During his postgame news conference, Pope urged patience for his growing team and praised its defensive effort.

"It's a work in progress," Pope said. "This is growth, guys, we talk about this all the time. It's fits and starts, and this was not our best defensive performance tonight. We're getting down into the stretch run, and us getting better on this end of the ball is something that we're obsessing about, and we're determined to do. If we do it well, then we're going to have a good stretch."

Mark Pope and the Wildcats are running out of time to guarantee a favorable ranking during March Madness and still have to face the No. 1 Auburn Tigers before the season ends.