"These refs are f***ing pathetic": Fans support Mark Pope after his incident with official at Kentucky vs Alabama

College basketball fans expressed support for Kentucky coach Mark Pope after he got involved in an incident with an official during the game against Alabama on Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

The incident happened in the second half when the Wildcats were down 56-49 with 14:56 remaining. Pope was visibly upset with the game's officiating and argued with one of the officials.

The referee didn't like what the first-year Kentucky coach said about the calls and blew his whistle to stop the game. He didn't call any infraction against Pope and used the temporary stoppage to stare him down.

Fans sided with Pope on this incident, with one college basketball enthusiast writing his displeasure at the game official for his actions.

"These refs are f**king pathetic," a fan wrote.

"Officials took the game over when UK was up 30-12.. everything changed at that point," a basketball fan claimed.

Other fans described the officiating as a farce while some called it a fix.

"The most blatant fix I’ve seen all season," a user posted on X (formerly Twitter).

"@SECOfficiating more holier than thou attitudes. calling terribly against Pope’s team and he hopefully called it out and your bullies want to stare down a coach?! good grief, pitiful," an basketball follower said.

"That is BS," a fan opined.

"That ref would be the biggest p**sy ever to T up pope lol," another fan added.

"Worst called game all year by far," a college basketball enthusiast pointed out.

A fan is asking the NCAA officials who evaluate these referees.

Eventually, No. 17 Kentucky (18-9, 7-7) lost to No. 4 Alabama (22-5, 11-3) 96-83. The Wildcats were whistled for 22 fouls and had Otega Oweh and Colin Chandler fouling out.

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Mark Sears explodes for 30 points to lead Alabama past Mark Pope-led Kentucky

Mark Pope and his Kentucky Wildcats absorbed a 13-point setback at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide partly due to the explosion of Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears. The 6-foot-1 guard tallied 30 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. He shot 8-of-17, including 3-for-8 from the 3-point area, and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Sears was supported by Aden Holloway, who finished with 19 points on five 3-pointers. The Nate Oats-coached team placed its clamps on Otega Oweh, who had his streak of scoring 10 or more points ended on Saturday. He finished with two points, making only one of his nine attempts from the field.

Koby Brea led Kentucky with 20 points while Andrew Carr and Amari Williams contributed 17. Alabama will be back in action on Tuesday against Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7), while Kentucky takes on Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10) on Wednesday.