Kentucky-Mississippi State Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE
January 10, 2026
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Pope
Press Conference
Kentucky – 92, Mississippi State – 68
MARK POPE: All right. Congrats to Mississippi State. They started the conference 2 and 0, essentially the best defense in the conference and really gutted it out. So, they’ve had a great start, it’s a terrific team. I’ve known Chris forever, he’s a great coach. And it was fun to have the ’66 team here. Those legends, it was so fun to have those guys in the gym. So fun to have them here. Really special to our guys and all of our players got to meet with those guys today at shootaround, those legends walking through the gym, so that was fun. I’m proud of our guys effort. I thought they responded well when the game did not go our way early and we are excited to keep moving forward.
Q Yeah Mark, you guys fell behind early, Jaland gets hurt again and JQ is not available. It’s like we’ve seen this story before. Then all of a sudden, I don’t know, did it click in? Because you did a 180. Is this something you’ve been waiting for all year or did you change something?
MARK POPE: Well, schematically we kind of went to moving more bodies on the floor and went through a little bit of a revamp spacing system. I will be honest with you guys, you know, 21 assists is the most we’ve had against a high major team by 5 and it just is amazing what happens when you pass the ball to your teammate a little bit. I was really proud of our guys. They were pretty agenda driven. We had some guys step up and calm us down. I thought Malachi Moreno had an unbelievable night. Just a really incredible night against an incredible, really physical frontline, I mean, you look at his line. His 6 assists, 1 turnover, and 4 steals. We milked him in the post more than we ever have this season and he really responded. He handled the double-team. He was pretty good in one-on-one situations and he handled the short roll. I thought he was elite and I thought he stayed us a little bit and Otega made good plays. I thought we had a bunch of guys. Kam came off the bench and was the most aggressive off the bounce he’s been. And so, when you have guys do that it helps, for sure.
Q Mark, a lot of defensive lapses in the first few minutes. It seemed like a lot of miss communication out there. And then it looked like the switch kinda flipped. What was the change there?
MARK POPE: It was a little bit of personnel and kind of dialing in. It was just a new approach. You know, I want to single out Mikhail McLean. This was his scout and it was a different scout. We had a different defensive scheme then we’ve played all season long. In multiple ways. And I’ve been pestering him for the last 72 hours. I called him late last night, early this morning, four or five different times pestering him with questions and he was like, coach, trust me, this is the way we need to play this game. This is how we need to do it. He did an unbelievable job coming up with and implementing a game plan for our guys and we did not execute it very well the first five minutes but we stuck with it and the guys did much better as the time went on. We moved our pickup point back a little bit. We got our bigs off the ball on the pickup as soon as the guard picked it up and when we did that, our bottoms, you know with this team you can really zone them up and they didn’t understand exactly what that was going to feel like in the context of this game but they really grew into it. Those three pieces came together much better in the last 35 minutes than it did in the first 5. We never actually went away from it. I was so worried about this. We had backup plan B, C, and D and we never went away to them. You know, it’s hard as an assistant coach to have the confidence and the courage to take a stand and stay with your conviction and huge kudos to Mikhail, just an unbelievable job on the scout.
Q In the second half there, you had your starting lineup out there minus Jaland, who you subbed for Kam Williams. You kind of rode with that unit a little bit. But even when Mississippi State got back within 1 and you trust them to overcome that and they really did and help set the tone for what would go on. What can you say about that group and how they responded to that?
MARK POPE: I thought they were good. You know, I thought, I don’t know how long we were, 2 minutes and 47 seconds into the game and the game started poorly and we missed our point guard again. So, there is some weirdness in the dynamics there. But I thought those guys responded well. I thought DA was really good. He’s put up bigger numbers in a couple of game against high majors, but this is his most solid outing where the game really made sense and it made sense with his team. So, I thought he responded well. Like I said, I thought Kam and Otega and Malachi were special. I thought AJ gave us good minutes off the bench too.
Q Coach, two questions. First question, do you have an update on Jaland? And the next question is, I asked you after the Alabama game about Kam’s playing time and you said he has to make the most of the minutes he’s getting. What’s shifted for him because it seemed like last game and tonight he really took advantage of the opportunities he received?
MARK POPE: I was proud of him tonight. For me, the marker with him is he is so explosive and long and effective downhill. When I see him getting downhill, I’m like, the world is good. And it’s a part of his game he’s grown into. His confidence is growing in that area and his ability to see the opportunities he has is growing. And it’s really important because that’s going to round out his offensive game so much. This was the best game he’s have that way. I’m proud of his progress, he’s doing a terrific job.
Q Mark, update on Jaland?
MARK POPE: Jaland, we will know more tomorrow, he just tweaked his shoulder. We will kind of see how it responds in the morning and see where we are at with that.
Q Coach, forgetting the wins and losses and all the other noise. Is there anything that you are seeing or your team is seeing with the process matrix or data that shows you this team is really going in the right direction, even if it is a little bit at a time?
MARK POPE: You know, Missouri was such a disaster. For example, it was a 105 offensive efficiency, which is the best we’ve had against high major team since Louisville. And then tonight, I know the numbers are going to be significantly better than that. So we are making some progress, understanding each other little bit. I thought our guys attention to the scout and the build to the scout was really good. I think that’s positive. the 21 assist, like I said, it is our high major record by a lot. And to be at 21-9 is really important for us tonight. I think our guys did a terrific job there and the space where we need to grow. It helps we you make shots but I think you make shots when you pass your teammate the ball. For us to shoot at 41% and 55%, clearly that helps a lot. I think that’s a residual of dialing on the defensive end. So you buy yourself some good opportunities and really work hard to make plays for your teammate. It’s such a simple concept, but to actually put it to work is hard. Tonight the guys were excellent doing that for 34 minutes. We need to carry that on. It’s fun to play the game that way. It’s something we are going to learn and grab onto and it will make us a better team.
Q Mark, just to follow up on Jaland for a quick second. This obviously is not the first time he’s reaggravated that right shoulder injury this season. I know you don’t have all the information yet. As you continue to think about the future of the season, how much consideration do you give to maybe even shutting him down for a few games versus the rest of the season and just what is that process and decision making look like for you guys as you try to find the rhythm and do what’s best for him?
MARK POPE: I think all the options are on the table and he will meet with the doctors tonight and then it’s always the next morning you kind of get a little bit more data and information and just how it responds. I think we will start the process of making an educated decision. It could be, no games, it could be a few games, it could be all the games. It could be any of those things. These guys have great futures in basketball. But they are dying to play right now. There’s just a balance, right? You want to protect their future, but you don’t want to steal their present from them. So we will go through that conversation. We have the best performance team in the world, so that will give great advice.
Q Mark, following up on Malachi’s performance? What does it say just about him and his mindset that you are down 12 and you are starting to see some body language out there and the crowd is grumbling and a freshman is able to kind of lift you guys out of that?
MARK POPE: I thought it was a special night for Malachi. This was his best performance all season by far. It was a time where we really needed him to be great and he knew the team needed him to be great. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable. I think we put the ball in his hands deliberately more than we have. We will find different ways to do that also. The way we are playing. He also had more space to operate. Frankly just with the way we played tonight, he had a little more space to operate. So all of those things work together. Malachi is a leader. He was a leader at his high school on the court and off the court. He will grow into a great leader here and he certainly was a great leader on the court tonight.
Q Mark, you mentioned DA, back here. It didn’t seem the ball was sticking as much tonight when he was running point. Can I assume that was a point of something you all worked on in practice?
MARK POPE: Yeah, we are working on it. And it’s fun. It’s unbelievable how fun this game can be when you play it with your team. It is just unbelievable how fun and inspiring and contagious it can be. It’s contagious. We’ve seen that in runs when we are getting out in transition and guys kind of fall in love with making plays for each other. We just haven’t seen it much on the half-court. The guys did a terrific job, like I said against a team that’s held both of their opponents on the road and at home in their first two games under a 90 offensive efficiency. I’m pretty sure that’s the best defensive marker, you look so bored. I’m pretty sure that’s the best defensive marker in the league, I think, to start the year. I thought DA was really good tonight. Just making the team function. That’s a new space for him that he’s trying to grow into and I was proud of him tonight. Also, Jasper Johnson was, I thought terrific off the bench. I thought Jasper was great. I thought this was his best high major game making sense of the game. I thought he was really good. So, you know he’s going to have to step up maybe here and carry some significant minutes. This was a really good sign for him. These young guys grow man, and he’s been really hungry and working hard and I expect that he will continue to grow. He had a really good night for us tonight.
Q Mark, it seems like there were so many things that you could take away from tonight that were positives for the team. In kind of the immediacy of it, what is it that you walk away happiest about other than obviously getting the win?
MARK POPE: It is the 21. The 21-9. That is what our teams has always been. You know, I’m happy with the 21-9 very much so. I’m actually really grateful for the disastrous start because it gave the guys another chance to prove that they can be resilient and tough and strong and do it. I’m really pleased with those two things most.
Q Hey coach, I just wanted to ask you about, it seemed like after that slow start you guys kind of pushed the tempo tonight. And kinda created your own pace. Just talk about that a little bit.
MARK POPE: Well, Mississippi State was really pressuring. We expected there would be a little bit more zoned up, but they weren’t. Their guards were out and we kind of ran our flow action and they were buying up the corners, staying with their own, fighting through screens and were really, really physical. What we did as the game wore on is we started finishing hard cuts better, right? But it does open up some space for us if you can take advantage of it. We didn’t do that well early but I think we did it well late. And I thought our guys perform well that way. Thanks guys.
KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
JANUARY 10, 2026
KENTUCKY PLAYERS
#24 Malachi Moreno, C
On tonight’s game being his best individual game of the season…
“Making the plays for my teammates really got me going. To see my guys getting their buckets and getting all excited, fed me the energy to keep going.”
On comparing Morenos’ stats to SGA and Rojan Rondos back in ’97…
“It makes me feel good to be in a space with those two elite guards, but I am nowhere compared for them. They have big-time accomplishments that I can only dream of. So it’s a really good compliment to have, and it’s another stepping stone for me.”
On playing in front of Pat Riley…
“Oh. It was really cool. You want to represent the number ones, and he is the one who set the foundation here. So being able to have that kind of performance in front of them means a lot to us.”
#3 Kam Williams, G
On coming back from the slow start …
“It feels great. We had a great game plan. We had a great scout, and we just stuck to it and we got the win, so it feels great.”
On worked with the defensive scheme…
“We knew that they were guard heavy and that their guards imitated most of their offense for them. We tried our best to take them away and if they gave up the ball, we tried let them get it back. It worked out, and we just have to keep trusting our scout, and we’re going to keep stacking wins. It was amazing.”
On the team’s resilience to comeback without Jayland Lowe…
“Jayland Lowe is a great player. We hate to see something like that; I don’t know the extent of the injury but having that resilience as a team is great. Since we start slow, I’m not going to sugarcoat it because sometimes we do. But we just stay within ourselves. We took it one possession at a time, not trying to hit a home run play – simple plays and we just kept doing what we needed to do, and we got the win.”
#00 Otega Oweh, G
On what flipped to get the offense moving and come out with a win…
“Well it’s probably just only a matter of time. We just have to really focus on making plays for teammates. Everyone, everyone eats. I feel like everyone eats, everyone does well. That’s going to catapult us to a different level. So I think going into the game really focused on making plays for teammates, you know, on top of that, having high intensity on defense.”
On what happened to help him flip the switch…
“Well, you know, it was just me getting my foot back, just the more I’m out there, I feel like I’m going to get better every single game. So that was just me getting my foot back. On top of that being super intentional every single game. Knowing what I should do or know is going to help this team, you know, get better.”
On how it feels to get UK’s first SEC win out of the way…
“I feel good, you know, just getting back to one column. I feel like BBN has just been waiting to cheer for something positive, so just glad that we could, we did that tonight.”
MISSISSIPPI STATE QUOTES
Head Coach Chris Jans
On the lead early in the game and what Kentucky did defensively to shake things up…
“They’ve been playing better, and getting off to some really good starts, recently, and that carried over to tonight. I think every coach in America can tell you internally one of the things you wish for was to get off to a good start and try to maybe take the crowd out of it, but they rallied around each other and you know, shortened up the deficit pretty quickly and at the end of the day, they just played better than us.”
On how Kentucky played their big men specifically Malachi Moreno down the stretch…
“Yeah, they reran a certain set, three or four times, and we actually game planned for it with a little different covers, and it didn’t work in our favor. It was probably one of the plays that they did three or four times, we were like I said, scheming for it, but the film that I watched, they throw it down there to the big fella quite a bit and he’s a tough match because he’s so big and he’s got a great touch and gets two feet in the paint. It’s tough to guard him down there. We were in and out of trying to double him or not and we didn’t.
On Otega Oweh’s play and his timely steals…
“He’s a great player. He’s an all-league caliber player. I think he was preseason player of the year if I’m not mistaken. He got it out of the court tonight.”
On calling timeouts and his decision-making…
“I wish they’d give us seven or eight of them. That had nothing to do with the end of the game. I should’ve called one in the first half earlier and I about pulled the trigger and I didn’t because it was under the media (timeout), It was something under an eight minute mark, if I’m not mistaken and I was ready to call it and I didn’t and then of course, that happens, it’s inevitable, that they score a three and then I called it. That was the one I’m more disappointed in, the second half, but we tried to stay in the game, and certainly would’ve love to of had one.”
