The tone on the post-game radio show was different this time.
After previous losses, Mark Pope has been analytical, almost detached. But following a gut-wrenching 67-64 loss to North Carolina, a game Kentucky led late before collapsing, Pope sounded like a coach who is feeling the weight of the moment right alongside his players.
Speaking with Tom Leach, Pope was candid about the offensive ineptitude that doomed the Wildcats, specifically the 13-minute scoring drought that turned a raucous Rupp Arena into a Monday morning Church. But amidst the frustration, he insisted that the pain is a necessary part of the process…