Pope, Cats Hope Experience Pays Off in NCAA Tournament
The Kentucky men’s basketball team found out its NCAA Tournament destination on Sunday night, and the Cats are excited to get back on the court.
Kentucky, which earned a third seed, will face 14th-seeded Troy on Friday night in Milwaukee. UK head coach Mark Pope was not surprised, due to the amount of projections that our available prior to the field actually being announced.
“I think it worked out great,” Pope said. “I think it broke down pretty much the way we expected.”
Pope, who was hired in April and built his roster in the span of about three weeks, assembled a team that has already won 22 games, including 10 games in the Southeastern Conference, which had perhaps the greatest season of any conference ever. The SEC got 14 of its 16 teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field. Pope hopes that playing that gauntlet, in addition to a tough nonconference slate, has prepared his team for the Big Dance.
“This team has been through it and their resilience has been incredible,” Pope said. “To do it in this league, in the SEC, as a brand new group that’s never functioned together, what these guys have accomplished already is incredible. What I’m excited about is to see how we can take these lessons in the postseason into the NCAA Tournament and what will the dividends be.”
Pope has repeatedly said this season that his team takes the next game on the schedule as the most important game of his team’s life. The matchup against Troy on Friday will be no different.
“Whether there’s a 16 beside your name or a one, these are all championship-caliber teams,” Pope said. “At the end of the day, probably the names don’t matter that much. And that’s why the NCAA Tournament is so beautiful. It’s the greatest sporting event in the world.”
Pope does have a roster of players who have played in the NCAA Tournament. Specifically, point guard Lamont Butler, who is expected to return to action after being injured in the SEC Tournament, has played in the Final Four and an NCAA Championship game at San Diego State. Pope knows that Butler’s experience is very important.
“It matters. It just matters,” Pope said. “He’s been through it at the highest level. He means so much to our team outside the tournament and maybe even more inside the tournament. And that’s why were as cautious as we were in the SEC Tournament.”
As for Butler, he’s looking forward to playing in his fifth NCAA Tournament.
“March Madness is something we all dream of,” Butler said. “Just enjoy the moment, play free and play for each other.”
Butler thinks this team can make a run due to its makeup.
“I think it just comes down to us having that bond together,” Butler said. “We love each other so much that we want to go out there and win and we’re going to continue to do it through March.”
That potential run through March begins against Troy on Friday in Milwaukee.
