Kentucky coach Mark Pope gives insanely tone-deaf answer after Wildcats nearly lose as 30-point favorites

With all the upheaval caused by the FAA ground stop on Friday evening, it’s easy to forget there were plenty of intriguing sporting events taking place to provide an appetizer to a weekend of great football.

For example, college basketball is now in full swing and one game between a perennial power and a winless mid-major gave everyone a surprisingly drama-filled ending.

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The Kentucky Wildcats are one of the bluest bloods in the sport, but their season was already off to a shaky start coming into Friday’s matchup with the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

Big Blue Nation has already had to endure a scare against James Madison and a 20-point beatdown at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks, but nothing could have prepared these Wildcat fans for what was to come in Rupp Arena against an 0-3 NAU squad.

My buddy Dan Zaksheske wrote an entire piece about the game itself, so check that out if you’re interested, but suffice to say, Kentucky needed a near-miracle to escape against the visiting Lumberjacks.

What’s worse, the Wildcats were 30-point favorites against Northern Arizona; this was supposed to be a “get right” game.

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Instead, Kentucky needed a couple of front-end misses from a pair of one-and-one opportunities at the free throw line from its opponent and some Rupp magic to squeak out a 78-77 “victory.”

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It hardly felt like a win to all the fans in attendance, and just as the loyal folks of Big Blue Nation were trying to make sense of what just happened, the most tone-deaf man in America was giving a postgame news conference.

“I hope everyone in Rupp had fun.”

Is It Weird For A Coach To Not Talk To His Team After A Game, Or Is It Extremely Weird?

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Are you insane?

For context, that man is Mark Pope, head basketball coach for the University of Kentucky.

If you thought maybe that was the Northern Arizona coach, you would be forgiven, because in no…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kentucky-coach-mark-pope-gives-201931621.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-14 20:19:00

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