It’s been an embarrassing season for Mark Pope and his Kentucky Wildcats so far. They entered the year with a $22 million roster, and yet their only ranked win came against a team no longer ranked… well, that tells you what you need to know. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s more trouble brewing in Lexington.

In their second SEC game of the season, the Kentucky Wildcats faced the Missouri Tigers, a team that was 0-9 all-time at Rupp Arena. But from the opening minute, Pope’s team struggled to impose themselves in the way many expected them to. That frustration boiled over late in the first half, with 1:23 remaining, when Otega Oweh was whistled for what appeared to be a soft foul on Jayden Stone.

Pope completely lost his cool on the call, getting into a heated back-and-forth with officials Doug Shows and Pat Adams. It pretty much summed up the current mood. You could see the frustration in the coach’s eyes as the Wildcats lost their sixth game of the season.

This was supposed to be a routine win for Kentucky. Even after trailing at halftime, the Wildcats came back to lead by eight with 4:37 remaining, only to let it slip away. They didn’t score in the final 2:17, a sequence reminiscent of their home loss to North Carolina earlier. The Tigers closed the game with a stunning 15-2 run.

Unlike their earlier losses, this was a night when Pope actually opened with his strongest lineup. Guards Jaland Lowe and forward Jayden Quaintance made their first starts of the season, giving the Wildcats their most talented five on the floor from the opening tip.

And despite starting Quaintance, who arrived as one of the nation’s premier rim protectors, they still got bullied in the paint. They gave up 40 points inside and scored only 28.

With that loss, Kentucky is now 11-12 against SEC opponents under Mark Pope. The last time the Wildcats were below .500 in SEC play over a two-year stretch? 1923. Let that sink in.

Kentucky fans are understandably frustrated, but how does Pope feel about this?

Mark Pope delivers a bold promise

Despite starting 0-2 in SEC play, which marks the Wildcats’ worst SEC opening in two decades, and sitting at 9-6 overall, Pope remains confident he can turn things around.

“It’s a hard space. And you know, this is tough,” Pope said, via Keith Taylor of Kentucky Today. “It’s not the way we intended to start SEC. When you go through a hard time, which everybody does, the question is, how much does it take to break you? And I’m not about to break. This group’s not about to break. The only thing you can do is grieve as quickly as possible and move on to the next incredibly challenging game, which we have on Saturday.”

After a 10-8 SEC record last year, Kentucky fans expected improvement. That has not been the case. The team is already staring at a scenario where their name might not even be called on Selection Sunday, which would be embarrassing for the Big Blue Nation.

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Next up, Mark Pope and Co. will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs, a matchup that favors Kentucky. According to ESPN, the Cats have an 82.4% chance of winning. But Kentucky was also expected to beat Missouri when ESPN gave them an 80.6% chance, and we all saw how that ended.

If Pope wants to save the season and his job, it has to start with winning the next game.