Mark Pope proudly wears his heart on his sleeve — through thick and thin. So after No. 15 Kentucky's dramatic second-round SEC Tournament win over Oklahoma on Thursday night, you better believe the Wildcats head coach was demonstrably riding high.
And with good reason. It's been a bumpy last few weeks for UK, but it looked as though Pope's first SEC Tournament might blow up on the launch pad. That is, until junior guard Otega Oweh hit a second heroic game-winner against his former school this season to eliminate the Sooners from their inaugural SEC tourney.
More importantly, the Wildcats prevailed in league tournament play for the first time since 2022 and punched their ticket to the quarterfinals. Knowing how big of a moment this was for the blue blood program, Pope proclaimed an electrifying rallying call to Big Blue Nation.
Mark Pope has Kentucky fans ready to run through a wall with an epic quote after SEC tourney win vs. Oklahoma
"If you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to kill us," Pope said regarding Oweh and Kentucky's relentless pursuit to overcome adversity. The No. 3-seed Wildcats have been battle-tested throughout the 2024-25 campaign, and their showdown with Oklahoma was no different.
Kentucky lost starting guard Lamont Butler early in the first half due to a right shoulder injury. The fifth-year senior is the team's assist leader, so his departure was deflating. Meanwhile, Oklahoma had a response every time the Wildcats seemed like they were on the verge of running away with the contest. It was a perfect storm for Pope's crew to roll over, but they didn't.
The Wildcats didn't flinch, even as standout freshman guard Jeremiah Fears and the Sooners kept attacking and briefly overcame a double-digit second-half deficit. It speaks to the buy-in Kentucky has shown under Pope. No matter the circumstances, they're always ready to leave everything on the floor, embodying the mentality of their first-year leader.
What will excite Kentucky fans if they aren't pumped for March Madness following the theatrics that propelled them to take down Oklahoma, plus Pope's comment? Sure, you can nitpick and note how apparent the Wildcats' defensive shortcomings were, but that's a glass-half-empty perspective.
Nevertheless, Pope's Wildcats hope to carry this momentum into a quarterfinal clash with third-seeded Alabama as they chase their first conference tournament title since 2018.