“It’s ‘every night is the biggest game ever’”: Mark Pope makes his feelings clear on losing vs ex-Kentucky HC John Calipari’s Arkansas

John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks got an important victory on Saturday as they upset Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats 89-79. The defeat put Kentucky at .500 in the Southeastern Conference at 4-4. However, Pope isn't preoccupied by the league record or the loss.

“I don’t think so, this is every game, right?" Pope said. "That’s the beauty of Kentucky, right? It’s ‘every night is the biggest game ever.’ If we go on the road, it’s the biggest game ever, and we are really blessed to have the greatest fan base in the world and so every night here is the biggest game ever. I think our guys are pretty used to that.”

He also addressed the issue of turnovers the Wildcats have had and presented a plan to address it.

"I think it’s us," Pope said. "I’m trying to figure out how to navigate. We have a bunch of guys that are stretching right now to figure out how to play out of position and to make it work.

"Credit to our guys, man, they are really stretching. And we will get better at it. It’s almost like we started a new season. ... We are going to learn some new ways to attack this, and we will get better at it. And I can help us get better at it. The turnovers were a little bit of an issue. Not just the 14 turnovers, but the turnovers that led to fastbreak points were problematic for us tonight."

John Calipari compliments Mark Pope despite upset in Rupp Arena

Arkansas coach John Calipari also seems to believe that UK's Mark Pope has what it takes to lead his former team. The former Wildcats-turned-Razorbacks coach spoke about Pope in the game's aftermath and had nothing but kind words:

“What Kentucky is doing and how they’re doing it — Mark Pope is doing a great job. Not a good job. A great job. … Good team. Good shooting. Big kids are playing well. Mark’s done great. He was the right guy for the job.

“Whether it was Kentucky, we just needed to win so I can keep coaching. The hardest thing is, you’re coaching them, you’re teaching, you’re bringing them together, they’ve got to feel some success to know that we’re on the right path."

The unranked Hogs (13-8, 2-6 SEC) pulled the upset in a must-win game over then-No. 12 Kentucky (15-6, 4-4) despite missing star point guard Boogie Fland, who suffered a season-ending hand injury in January.