Mark Pope knew free-throw shooting would be important against Texas

The Kentucky Wildcats beat the Texas Longhorns at what they do best: shooting free throws.

Jan 21, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts to a play during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball picked up their fourth-straight win in SEC play on Wednesday as they defeated the Texas Longhorns 85-80, in a game where Kentucky pulled away by as much as 11, but the Longhorns brought it back within two in the final minutes, with free throws ultimately saving the day for the Wildcats.

Mark Pope's squad finished the game making only free throws in the last 4:16 of the game, going 9-12 from the line in that span. Kentucky all-out won with free throws in the end, because Texas turned a 10-point Wildcats lead into two with 56 seconds left, as the results from the line became the biggest factor of the entire game. Kentucky went 30-35 from free throws, while Texas went just 18-20 from there. The Longhorns came in as the number two team in college basketball at getting to the line, with big man Matas Vokietaitis entering the game drawing the most fouls per game in the country, while also being first in free-throw rate. That spelled trouble for Kentucky, but it instead turned out to be an issue for Texas.

After the game, Texas head coach Sean Miller voiced his frustrations with how much his team fouls, and he says it is becoming a real problem. "this is a Texas problem. We have a virus called fouling, and it has plagued us from the opening tip of the first game until tonight. It’s not the officials, it’s not Kentucky. We will foul the living shit out of you. We will foul a three-point shooter. We’ll foul at the end of the clock. We’ll leave our feet on drives. Kentucky was 30 for 35 from the line. It’s hard to win an SEC road game when the home team is 30 for 35 from the line. I’m not messing around on the officiating. The officiating was fine. It was called the right way."

On the other side, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope knew how important winning the free-throw shooting battle would be to pick up the win. "I thought that was a really important part of this game. It was patience. Sometimes you get to the free throw line because you’re belligerent driving, putting your head down, and you end up with a really poor two-point field goal percentage. It didn’t feel like that. The game didn’t feel like that today. It felt like we were earning fouls because of our patience and our attack."

Kentucky knew what they were up against, facing a Texas team who is one of the best free-throw shooting and offensive rebounding teams in the country. They left Rupp Arena winning the free-throw battle and allowing just 13 rebounds off of their 34 missed shots. The Wildcats flipped the script.