"Reaping the rewards beyond his wildest imagination": Mark Pope lauds Kentucky star for recent success after Wildcats upset Tennessee

The Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope raved about senior Ansley Almonor following the No. 15 Wildcats' win over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night. Almonor scored a season-high 13 points in the 75-64 victory over the Volunteers at Rupp Arena.

Pope highlighted the 6-foot-7 forward's ability to step up in big moments, especially when the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, Jaxson Robinson, was left out of the lineup due to injury.

"I know I told you all that he was going to win some games before the season, I didn’t even expect he would win us this many," the coach said postgame. "I honestly did not recruit him to be a downhill, euro-step, through contact finisher in the crucial moment of the game against the best defensive team in the country, but he did it."

"He’s reaping the rewards beyond his wildest imagination right now. Like this is super cool. How fun for him. I love every second of it."

Mark Pope also shared a deeper appreciation for what Almonor brings to the team beyond just his performances on the court, describing him as "super fun" to have in the locker room.

For most of this season, Ansley Almonor did not start games for Kentucky and played an off-the-bench role until the last few weeks. He is averaging 6.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game playing 15.7 minutes per contest.

Mark Pope appreciates the heart and commitment displayed by his team

After a tough stretch, where Kentucky lost four out of five games from mid-January to early February, the Wildcats have bounced back with two straight SEC wins over South Carolina and Tennessee to improve 6-5 in conference play.

Following the sweeping victory over rival Tennessee, Mark Pope went all in on praising the resolve of his players in turning things around.

"It was really great to be a part of this epic game tonight," he said postgame. I’m so proud of our guys. We have guys that just want to fight and compete. They just want to be ballers man — they just want to come play.

"We had guys that stepped up and made huge plays and we had young guys that stepped up and made huge plays."

The Wildcats had 27 points off the bench in their Tuesday win. Freshman forward Trent Noah added 11 points, fellow freshman guard Travis Perry contributed 8 points, and sophomore center Brandon Garrison had 5 points and 5 rebounds.