"We don't do moral victories": Mark Pope unimpressed with Kentucky's gritty comeback attempt from 27 points deficit

The Kentucky Wildcats, coached by Mark Pope, was just dealt with their fourth loss of the 2025 SEC on Tuesday. Despite a gutsy comeback attempt down 27 points, the No. 14-ranked program in the nation would lose to the Ole Miss Rebels by 14, 98-84, on the road and would fall to a .500 conference record, 4-4, 15-6 overall.

Ole Miss led by as much as 27 points after fifth-year guard Matthew Murrell, who scored 24 points overall, hit a three-pointer at the 19:02 mark of the second half to push Kentucky's deficit to 60-33. Pope's squad would try to retaliate, cutting the Rebels lead by as much as 12, but ultimately lucked out as the final buzzer sounded.

During the post-game press conference, Pope was visibly upset with the demoralizing defeat, saying: (as reported by Kentucky Sports Radio reporter Jack Pilgrim.)

"This is Kentucky. We don't do moral victories at all," Pope said. "But, we will also try and build on things that we do well. I thought we had some pace in the second half that was much better. We did it by sharing the ball. Ole Miss missed a couple of shots for us and so, we got to get out in transition." (7:15)

"That's really important, after a make or miss, we got to find our way back into transition. That's really important for us. So, that was a positive. We probably went through our whole playbook of different defensive options, and it's hard to take too much because you're nursing a lead, so you play different. But, at least we got some reps doing different things," Pope then continued saying.

Pope and the Wildcats will look to shift the momentum back in their favor when they take on the short-handed South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Feb. 8, on their homefloor.

Mark Pope still commends his team for their efforts to try and come back

Despite falling short, Mark Pope still commended his Kentucky Wildcats for the fight that they brought, particularly in the second half of the loss against the Ole Miss Rebels. He said:

"We have a resilient group, a group that cares. This was one of those nights where you could of just walked away and our guys didn't do that. That's clearly a standard, that we'll never accept dipping below. But, nonetheless, I'm proud of the guys for that." (8:20)

In the loss, junior guard Otega Oweh top-scored for the Wildcats with 24 points, while adding in six rebounds and an assist. Senior Jaxson Robinson then supplemented his performance, to the tune of 18 markers, two boards, two dimes and a steal.