Kentucky is college basketball's winningest program. But it's fallen short of that standard in recent years. Here's how Mark Pope aims to change that.

Kentucky beat Wright State by 41 points in Mark Pope’s first game as the team’s head coach. Afterward, Pope talked about the importance of the evening.

Kentucky scored 103 points in its 41-point victory over Wright State on Monday night. (Yes, Pope wore the No. 41 during his playing days as a Wildcat. Karma.) That’s the highest point total by a Kentucky team for a brand new coach since Tubby Smith’s first edition defeated Morehead State 88-49. Those Cats went on to hang a banner.

After a decade and a half with Kentucky, former Wildcats head coach John Calipari is no longer leading the program. Now the head coach at Arkansas, the longtime face of the team brought a few of his former players to a new school in the SEC. In his absence, former BYU head coach Mark Pope is now running the show for Kentucky.

The Mark Pope era is officially off to a winning start for the Kentucky men’s basketball program. On Monday night, the Wildcats began the 2024-25 season with a dominant 103-62 home victory against Wright State of the Horizon League.

Monday will be a day that Kentucky head basketball coach Mark Pope remembers forever, his first game at the helm for his alma mater. Leading the Wildcats to a 103-62 win over Wright State to start off his tenure in Lexington the right way.

Otega Oweh scored 21 points, Koby Brea added 18 off the bench, and No. 23 Kentucky shot 60% to blow out Wright State 103-62 in Mark Pope’s Wildcat debut.

The Kentucky basketball 2025 recruiting class now includes three players. Acaden Lewis committed to Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.

Mark Pope just added his third member to the 2025 class as four-star guard Acaden Lewis picked the Wildcats over Duke and UConn. Lewis is ranked as the 36th-bes

The Kentucky Wildcats and head coach Mark Pope landed the commitment of top guard Acaden Lewis for the class of 2025.