Mark Pope praises Kentucky’s commitment to improving through 2 games

Mark Pope wanted more intensity on the offensive glass, and that’s exactly what he got Saturday.

The Kentucky Wildcats have two blowout wins on the season, but these two games were definitely different, despite the same result. In the first blowout, Kentucky throttled Wright State 103-62. Otega Oweh led the way with 20 points. The Cats finished with seven offensive rebounds and 34 defensive rebounds.

After the game, Pope asked for more intensity on the glass, and he certainly got that. Against Bucknell, the Wildcats had 35 defensive rebounds and 22 offensive boards, a much more aggressive showing on the glass.

It’s not about the rebounds though, it’s about how Pope gets his guys to buy into what he preaches. He commented on it after the game, praising his team’s ability to buy into his point of view on the game.

“I like how our guys are responding,” Pope said during his postgame press conference. “We’ve been on this rebound issue for 10 days now and what an epic response. Just a commitment. Guys as a group said, ‘Ok, we’re going to fix this.’ It’s been really impressive to see when we point our guys in a certain direction about their willingness to commit to it and it bodes well for us to grow over the course of the season.”

The Cats have a huge game against the No. 7 ranked Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday. Let’s hope they can remain dominant on the glass against a more aggressive opponent.