Kentucky-Bellarmine Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE
December 23, 2025
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Pope
Press Conference
Kentucky – 99, Bellarmine – 85
MARK POPE: Let’s take a breath and let’s get back to work. Fire away with questions. Actually, let me take that back. Bellarmine, awesome. Love the way they play. We actually have a Bellarmine cut that I think we played against Bellarmine a couple of years ago. And I love they move after the bounce and they work hard to get some space on the floor and I thought they were great in isolation tonight and I thought they were great with MP4T’s, played hard and played tough. I thought they were terrific. Congratulations to them.
Q Mark, obviously a lot of zone that they played tonight. What did you see from your guys three-point perspective that can maybe translate to the rest of the season. 16 3’s 53%?
MARK POPE: Well, I love Kam, 8 for 10 and I asked him to do that every night for the rest of the year, so that’s plan A. And I thought Otega being a 10 assists guy, I would like that to happen every game for the rest of the year too. I thought that was absolutely fantastic. He’s been trying to find some space to be a MP4T guy. He did it by getting downhill and making plays for guys. He did it by being a quick turn guy, which is an underrated area of expertise that guys can excel in. I thought he was really good that way. I think those two things were really key for us in terms of shooting the ball better. And the zone helps. I mean, the zone helps because every shot is open really.
Q Mark, you just said that Kam hit 8 3’s tonight. Coming into the game, he was shooting 23%, I think it was from 3 and last year shot in the 40s. What does it do for a guy like Kam when he can see them go through the net, even if they are playing a zone and it opens it up? Even last game when he hit a few?
MARK POPE: I think it was good for him to make them here too. I think it was good for him to make them here at Rupp. But at the end of the day, I just never been, I think I told you guys this for the last two months. I’ve never been in a space where the numbers don’t actually translate. It’s just time, it’s just time and reps. He’s an elite level shooter and it’s just his time. That’s all it is. Sometimes it’s the first day and sometimes it’s the 60th day. But when you are a really good shooter, you make shots. It’s not, you know, like our Noah numbers always translate into encore performance. They always do. It’s never had an anomaly where it doesn’t. It’s just how it should be. Like I said, I was kidding about 8 for 10 every single night, maybe every other night.
Q Mark, obviously Otega’s 10 kinda stole the show a little bit. You made the decision not to play Jaland Lowe today and Jasper Johnson finished with 7 assists. What did you like that you saw through your point?
MARK POPE: Thought Jasper was good and minus the first possession where he was a little tentative. I thought he was really good at being forceful downhill and even in the second half he got downhill. Maybe was a little bit too greedy with his opportunity to make plays with his teammate. Really fought that gap through three guys, but he was strong enough with the ball to win it and earn a foul. I thought Jasper was really good. I had a lot of confidence in him today on the offensive end. I think he actually made us with the zone where it was mucky early and Jasper was the one who kind of made us think, this is going to be fun, like we will score against this. I felt like both halves, you know, against the zone. The guys were 46 and 53 points each half, so it was pretty consistent and I think a lot of that goes to Jasper, I really do.
Q Mark, this game between December 20th and January 3rd. This is the only game you have. You guys are on a little roll. Would you prefer you had more games coming up or is the break perfect because you are working JQ and you can rest Jaland?
MARK POPE: I think the break is important for us and is really good for us right now. I’m really grateful for it. Mostly, you know, not so much for the guys, but mostly for Lee Anne. Lee Anne is so fed up with me right now and I just need to be a better, I need to do a better job as a husband for a couple of days. I’m going to crush it. It’s going to be amazing. Lee Anne has no idea what’s in store for her. It’s also good for our guys right now. Listen, they been through a lot emotionally, for sure. They taken some hits and they’ve responded really, really well. I’m really proud of this group in the sense of how they responded over the last three weeks. We got better and we reoriented some things and kinda found some new mentality and I think we have enough of a base that’s going to filter through our guys over the course of the next 10 days where we get to really, really get some work done on the practice floor and try to find and embrace what we have and we have a little vision of what we can be in the short time and I think we are excited about it.
Q Coach, playing the last nonconference game of the year and then going into Tuscaloosa January 3rd playing a very tough, physical Alabama team. What did you kinda take away from this game and kind of moving forward into the practice and what is that going to look like for you guys going forward?
MARK POPE: I don’t know if I’m taking a lot from this one but I do think our trendline is, I think we will learn a lot how to play with two bigs on the floor. About how to play with a little more physical confrontational game. I think we are finding a way to have our presence really felt on the glass in big-time games. Those are areas where we’ve made some growth. I think guys are defining their own roles, which is really fun. It’s great to watch guys realize how they can be a contributor to a team. That’s good. I thought it was good that we got to get some guys minutes maybe that haven’t really been getting as many minutes tonight and so all those things were really positive. But we are excited about what we have a chance to become.
Q Coach, you kinda mentioned guys getting minutes who didn’t really get a lot of minutes. You were doing some different things with your lineups today. Was that to see going forward who can get in or go out? What was these interesting lineups?
MARK POPE: Yeah. Just kind of exploring it. It was complicated for us too because they are an undersized team and their bigs really can shoot it and they have great mobility and so it was a little strenuous for us to go with a big, big lineup. So that kind of contributed to us nursing some line. I think it was good for our team and I think it was actually a really positive experience for our guys. Sobering and positive.
Q Mark, was today an indication that you are going to pick and choose when Lowe plays or is he just sore from a tough weekend?
MARK POPE: Yeah, he had a little bit of soreness and just a little bit of pain. We just made the calculated decision to, you know, when he steps on the floor, I would like him to be at full strength. I think that’s going to be important for us going forward. I expect him to play every game but this was an opportunity for us to maybe let him heal up a little more, especially with a break coming up now for a few days. So, we were able to stack, sometimes there is a big difference between 48 hours and 96 hours or 120 hours. And so, we are trying to just buy a little extra time for him to heal up fully.
Q I know you guys collect a lot of data on JQ. Were you happy on how he came out after Saturday’s game? And this next week and a half for him. How important is that going to be for him to get more up to speed and what specifically can he work on?
MARK POPE: It’s a big week for him. You know, this is a weird game for him. It’s a weird matchup, weird vibe. Everything about it weird. I won’t take anything from this game on him. These practices, I can’t tell you how excited we are about them and is going to give us a chance to really be grounded and really work and dig in and forge more identity with him in the lineup, with 2 bigs in the lineup, with the rotation we were kinda thinking about. So, this practice time will be really valuable for us.
Q Coach, with the nonconference season now being over. What is the main thing you have gleaned about your team during the nonconference portion?
MARK POPE: I think our responses has been good and I think our response to not being who we wanted to be and I think our response has been good and it gives you confidence as a coach when things don’t go right and guys respond the way you want them to in the long run. I think that’s pretty powerful. I think it gives us high hopes moving forward and as we move into this gauntlet SEC league play, which I can’t wait to get there.
Q Mark, obviously you got this break coming up and I’m sure you’re sick and tired of being asked about injuries. But it looks like Brandon hurt his leg a little bit and he went out and didn’t play very much the second half. Did you hold him out, out of precaution or is there something you’re worried about there?
MARK POPE: I don’t know too many details yet and it’s a little tweak and is not serious. But it’s, let’s hold him and we don’t have to have him today. Again, it was kind of this opportunity, this little window where we have to stack some days together for guys to heal. It’s really just precaution.
Q Hey Mark, odd question. A lot of times Kam was open for a 3-pointer and a lot of times in the corner. What has to happen? Are there a number of other things that have to happen with the other four teammates first before that becomes so wide open?
MARK POPE: Well, you know Bellarmine, to their credit, they were trying a bunch of different zones. Sometimes it’s just immediate, just because early on, we just were attacking with a highball screen where they kind of had a two guard front and so we had a numbers game on the weak side. And they bought a third guard to the front to try to manage that and so we started attacking the corner and it was kinda a back-and-forth game. Mostly it’s just a credit to our bigs trying to have a presence inside, which is really complicated size-wise. And them Kam being aggressive. It is interesting, on some simple action run, you just have to time up your hold in the corner just so the zone has to honor it before you turn when the action begins and you kind of get lost in the mix. You know, and as part of the credit to our guys, we had a numbers game on the right side. Kam started on the left corner and ran to the right corner and Otega actually skipped Jasper because Kam made 3 and so it was probably Otega’s best turn of his career here and it was like a pop rule turn so also the guys finding him. You know the zone, I like the game plan for Bellarmine to go on a zone and see if they can be disruptive and I thought the guys responded really well to it. Guys, Merry Christmas. Merry, Merry Christmas. To all of BBN, Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.
KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. BELLARMINE
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
DECEMBER 23, 2025
KENTUCKY PLAYERS
#2 Jasper Johnson, G
On how comfortable he was playing point today …
“I am always comfortable. Coach is always telling me to make plays for teammates, so I am just doing whatever I can to make plays and communicate with my guys and make sure they are in the right spots and build from there.”
On the opportunity for him to play with Jaland still banged up …
“Yeah, Coach Pope is always telling me to be ready. I am always in the gym just working on my craft. I know if he goes down, I am the next man up. I am just always making sure I am ready. He is talking to me and I am always talking to him. He is being a great leader.”
On what Coach Pope has him working on the most …
“Always be decisive. That is something he is always telling me to be decisive. He thinks that I am one of the best playmakers on this team and I just have to go out there and make plays for my teammates.”
#3 Kam Williams, G
On his breakout shooting performance …
”Having my teammates have the confidence in me to go out there and make shots even when I am missing just makes me want to play harder. We have a great group of guys and I cannot wait to go into SEC play.”
On him hitting shots in this building …
“Yeah, having the crowd into it definitely plays a part because of the energy that they have it makes us play a little harder. Playing at home, every team is going to want to play their hardest in front of their fans. So having a supporting group like that makes our jobs easier.”
On if he felt his shot had abandoned him …
“I wouldn’t say abandoned. It was really just my preparation to the game. I was rushing my shot a little bit and thinking the defender was closer than he really was. But I had to get back to my fundamentals, my base and found it. It was hard work before the games and it showed tonight.”
#1 Denzel Aberdeen, G
On the upcoming break …
“It will be a good break. But it’s going to be a good break, but once we get back, we’ve really got to get rolling because (the season) becomes more competition, better teams.”
On what the team did today that can help moving forward …
“Things that coach preaches about is making plays for teammates, hitting extra passes. Kam Williams was elite today and everybody else was elite sharing the ball. Just catching, shooting and being ready to shoot.”
On playing defense in the last game before the holidays …
“Yeah, it’s really hard but we had no excuses, we had to lock in on defense. Dang near the whole game, we were getting scored on or fouls called, so we’ve just got to step that up and, whatever the game is and whether it’s before the break or not, we’ve got to be ready to guard.”
On how dangerous this team is when threes are falling …
“Oh, very dangerous because we’re a good attacking team and we’re also a good three-point shooting team. We’re getting better each and every day with that. So once our three ball’s falling, teams scout for that we can also attack, too.”
BELLARMINE QUOTES
Head Coach Doug Davenport
Opening Statement…
“There’s a quote we use a lot in our locker room, and we talk about one of the hallmarks of what we do is having a sense of gratitude. We say this all the time, when you are feeling an extreme sense of joy, take a breath, look around, say it out loud, think it, murmur it, and say, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’ For our guys, to look around and to play in Rupp at 1 p.m. on the day before Christmas Eve, 20,000 fans, if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is. It was a really good day for our program. It’s not the result we wanted, but I’m really proud of our effort. I thought our guys represented the program well and represented themselves really well.”
On Kentucky’s open looks in their half-court offense …
“I told the team, make them put the loss on me. 100% on me. We were going to dare them to shoot the ball, and they did, and they made them. Tip your cap to them. One of our big numbers that we live by is points in the paint plus free throws. 68-51 on points in the paint plus free throws. Anyone who has an understanding of basketball understands that three-point shooting is the highest variance of the game, and they’re the big blue. They started playing. Give them credit. They made a bunch of shots. The kid Williams, kudos to him.”
On the fight from his team today…
“First half, we didn’t get a lot of stops. There were 14 defensive rebound opportunities, and it was 7-7. They had seven offensive, and we had seven defensive. In the second half, it was 10-3. We turned the ball over nine times in the first half. We turned it over three times in the second. We get enough hands on balls in the second half. We turned it into target practice, and they made them. As far as the fight from our guys, these guys, phenomenal. We did not come here to score 85 and get beat by 14. That was not the goal, but the fight was there.”
#32 Jack Karasinski, F
On what it means to have this performance on this stage…
“I’m a senior. I’ve played a lot of games in a lot of big arenas. When I’m out there standing at half court, this place is pretty big. We played in the Breslin Center. That was packed out, but this place is different. I think Bellarmine is just so unique in how we play, the cuts like we talked about. I just know where the spots are to get the right shots. Our guys are really unselfish and that’s part of it too, but I think it’s mostly the confidence my teammates have in me to score the ball.”
#8 Kenyon Goddin, G
On what it was like to play in Rupp Arena…
“I had never played in Rupp. Unfortunately, I didn’t make the state tournament. They kind of hold that over my head, the other Kentucky kids on our team. It was really cool. You dream of it as a kid. Going out there at the six-minute mark for layup lines, I was like, woah, there’s a lot of people here. It was good just to be out there with those guys. I believe in my teammates. Jack scores on everybody, literally. It was a fun time. I’m glad I experienced it. Onto conference play.”
