Mark Pope makes his feelings known on Kentucky - Louisville rivalry

Coming off a 78-67 win over Colgate on Wednesday, the Kentucky Wildcats now looks ahead to their next matchup. With a 9-1 record, they face a test against their rivals, the Louisville Cardinals, on Saturday. Fortunately for Kentucky, they'll have the homecourt advantage for this highly anticipated game.

In the post-Raiders victory press conference, coach Mark Pope shared his thoughts ahead of the rivalry match, his first as Kentucky's head coach. He doesn't plan to emphasize the stakes of the game, expressing confidence in his players' performance, saying:

"The answer is probably no. You probably have to experience it to do it (communicate). But, I am blessed with guys that are seasoned. I have guys that have played in big-time rivalry games so it's not like a foreign concept to them. This is just a little level up." (Timestamp: 9:00).

He then shared his emotions about leading one of the teams in this established rivalry.

"It's exciting and awesome. We love it and we hate it and we all the things...I'm well-aware of the beauty of this rivalry," he concluded.

The all-time head-to-head record between the two powerhouse teams is 39-17 in favor of Kentucky. They last met in December of last season, when the Wildcats defeated the Cardinals 95-76, under the leadership of then-coach John Calipari, who is now with Arkansas. It's clear that Kentucky holds a significant advantage, much to Pope's delight.

Unfortunately for the former Wildcat, he'll be down a starter as transfer Kerr Kriisa suffered a knee injury in their 90-89 overtime triumph against Gonzaga last Saturday. This means that Kentucky will be facing Louisville without their standout guard. The game tips off at 5:15 p.m. EST and will be streamed through ESPN.

Mark Pope gives Trent Noah and Travis Perry more minutes

Besides Kriisa, guard Lamont Butler was also out for the Colgate game due to a right ankle injury. This led Pope to start Otega Oweh and Jaxson Robinson at the backcourt positions. Throughout the match, he also gave substantial minutes to freshmen Trent Noah and Travis Perry, believing this was an opportunity for them to get some playing time.

"That's gonna be a work in progress. They're super talented players. I thought they made solid contributions tonight. It's hard, you kind of want to put them in the game when there's a real flow to it," Pope shared.

As some key players on the roster are dealing with injuries, Pope might opt to give either Noah or Perry more minutes in the Louisville game, where they'll need all the help they can get in such a challenging matchup.