Mark Pope was very deep when talking about responding after losses

Kentucky coach Mark Pope talks about mentality following losses and how to respond.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope argues with an official during game against the Missouri Tigers | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball has had a very rough time this season, as they are now 9-6 overall and are off to their worst start of SEC play in 20 years. BBN has been as emotional as ever lately, and rightfully so. Wednesday's loss to Missouri was a very painful one, as Kentucky had an eight-point lead with 4:37 left against Missouri, but let it slip away after a 15-2 run for the Tigers.

Mark Pope talked about how he was feeling after Wednesday's very brutal loss, but the head coach knows that it's about finishing the story. He really channeled his inner Rick Pitino with the comment, as he seems to really take losses hard. Pope knows that it's about your mentality when facing hardships, responding the right way when asked about the team's mentality: "I think everybody has mental fatigue everywhere right now if you're putting your whole heart and soul into it, but that's our job to not let that have any impact on today or yesterday or tomorrow. One of the things I love about sports is it teaches you that you have to--It doesn't matter how bad things get, you can't go back and rewrite what happened, you can just write the end of the story to make it something that it's not. ...There's no time for indulging and feeling. I spent a lot of time feeling like I'd like to curl up a bit and kill myself, but that's actually not what we do. We raise up and we get to work and we find answers, and that's actually where the great part of life comes from, is answering the bell."

Former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said something similar two years ago, and it really shows where Pope got the mindset of taking losses so hard. "When we lose, I hate the f--king world. I feel like I want to kill myself, jumping into the cold and die of frostbite." Pope used that as encouragement to not let losses keep you down. It's a good mindset to live by, but at the same time, Kentucky hasn't done anything about their losses yet, still on track for a terrible season. But the head coach knows that you can take that down feeling and use it as fuel moving forward and write the end of the story.

Out of context, Pope's quote can be taken in a weird way, but it's a way of putting in perspective just how bad times can get. Kentucky has a lot of season left. Can they respond? We'll see on Saturday, because their backs are more than against the wall.