“I know there might be some consternation out there, but I love it,” Pope said. “I love it when you have to find your way through it and where guys are forced to really not just look at each other and love each other, but lean on each other and bail each other out. We have guys that are going to be able to accomplish great stuff.”
Pope is confident in his team and knows that there is still a long season ahead of them.
“This is a good group and I have an unbelievable amount of confidence that we’re going to have a great season here,” Pope said. “I also know for a fact that we have an extraordinary amount of work to do.”
How can the Cats get back in the win column on Friday night?
“Just doing the things that we do,” Pope said. “We failed to be consistent. That’s a beginning point for us. Just lean into how we do it and we’ll get back there. This group is going to learn and be really good but we have some growing to do.”
Kentucky has five players averaging in double figures, led by Denzel Aberdeen, who is scoring 14.2 points per contest. Otega Oweh is at 12.8 points per game, while Mo Dioubate scores 11.6 per outing. Collin Chandler (11.0 ppg) and Malachi Moreno (10.2) round out UK’s double-digit scorers.
Loyola is 2-4 this season, most recently falling to Duquesne 92-78. Jacob Theodosiou leads the Greyhounds in scoring at 17.2 points per game.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.