mark pope: Mark Pope admits having "emotional advantage" ahead of Kentucky's Sweet 16 matchup vs Tennessee

Mark Pope admits having "emotional advantage" ahead of Kentucky's Sweet 16 matchup vs Tennessee

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Practice - Source: Imagn — Mark Pope and Kentucky will face Tennesse for the third time this season. - Source: Imagn

To Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope, beating the Tennessee Volunteers twice during the season might give his team some sort of an emotional edge, but little else ahead of the teams’ Sweet 16 matchup this Friday.

In his media availability ahead of the game against the Vols, the head coach shared his thoughts on his squad’s 2-0 record against Tennessee.

“If we really parse details, there's maybe the emotional advantage of winning two that you feel like you know you can," Pope said.

"And there’s the strategic side of coming to know when to kind of consider you might have a better idea if you’re gonna make changes, a better idea of how and why. But I think that’s like a 0.1%. This is a freestanding game,” he added.

The Wildcats won 78-73 in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and then swept the season series with a 75-64 home victory on Feb. 11. They arrived at the Sweet 16 after defeating Troy and Illinois with relative ease in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Tennessee, on the other hand, handled Wooford and UCLA in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament after making it to the Final of the SEC tourney.

Kentucky has been a more traditional powerhouse, but last made the Elite Eight in 2019. The Vols have made the Regional Semifinal twice under Rick Barnes, including last year, but they have never played in the Final Four.

Mark Pope lauds Tennessee coach Rick Barnes

Kentucky and Tennessee may be rivals, but Mark Pope was nothing but complimentary of Volunteers coach Rick Barnes ahead of Friday’s game. Pope went on to call Barnes one of the best coaches in the sport on Thursday’s press conference.

“Rick Barnes is, if not the best, one of the best coaches in all of college basketball right now, and he’s one of the people that I really, really admire. I admire him because he puts together great teams every year and I admire him because of everything I know about him," Pope said via On3.com.

“He’s a way better man than he’s a basketball coach, and when you’re one of the best basketball coaches that’s saying a lot about him,” he added.

Barnes arrived in Knoxville in 2015, after a 17-year tenure at Texas, where he took the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003. They would lose to eventual champion Syracuse in the National semifinal.

After arriving in Tennessee, Barnes has turned the Volunteers into one of the most consistent programs in the SEC, making the NCAA Tournament seven times in the past eight years. He won Coach of the Year honors in 2019.

The winner of Friday’s game between the Wildcats and Volunteers will face the winner of Houston versus Purdue in the Regional Final.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Veer Badani