"Giving us love we probably didn't deserve": Mark Pope sends heartwarming message to his wife, kids and 20,000 Kentucky fans

Kentucky coach Mark Pope led the Wildcats to a 78-67 victory over the Colgate Raiders on Wednesday. The highlight of the evening was when he delivered a heartwarming message to his loved ones and the crowd at Rupp Arena.

Pope joined "SportsCenter" after the win to discuss the game. Host Cristina Alexander brought up the sweet moment Pope shared with his wife, kids, and fans after the overtime win against Gonzaga on Saturday and asked how those moments motivated him.

"First of all, I'm blessed with it. I'm slightly biased, but I'm blessed to be married to the most amazing woman on the planet. She is a gamer. She's an important part of this team, as well as our daughter," Pope said (1:26 onwards).

"And [Big Blue Nation] is just unbelievable. They were incredible tonight. Like, we were really at an energy deficit, and BBN just stood up, all 20,000 of them, and started giving us love we probably didn't quite deserve, and that carried us through."

"So, it's unbelievable. It's just Kentucky. There's nowhere like it. And we're blessed to be able to be a part of it."

Mark Pope's No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats had to dig deep to overcome No. 8 Gonzaga as they trailed by 16 points at halftime but forced overtime and pulled a 90-89 victory at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Mark Pope reflects on the Colgate win despite slow start to second half

Kentucky Wildcats improved to 9-1 on the season after the win against Colgate on Wednesday. Mark Pope's men started great in the first half going 17-0 up before the Raiders launched an impressive comeback to make it 36-38 at halftime.

The Wildcats had a sluggish start to the second half and were down 45-42 at one point before coming back to seal the victory in Lexington.

"Well, we have great guys, man. We have a ton of leadership on this team. And this was clearly not our best night," Pope said (via SportsCenter). "And a lot of credit to Colgate. They've had some misfortune, but they're a championship team. They've won a ton."

"But our guys, they're just great at responding. It's the best part of our team. And so I'm really proud of them."

Kentucky's next big game is against their rival Louisville on Saturday before they take on Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in New York.