Mark Pope is grateful for the challenge Georgetown presented his team

Pope knows his team will learn from Thursday's loss after the Hoyas exposed them in some areas.

Oct 30, 2025; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) defends against Georgetown Hoyas guard Malik Mack (2) during the second half at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats were smacked in the mouth on Thursday in their 84-70 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas, a team that was fully prepared for a Kentucky squad coming off a big win in their first exhibition game against #1 Purdue. Their preparedness was fully evident from the start, as the Wildcats struggled to shoot all night, but really struggled stopping the Hoyas on the other end.

Georgetown got up by as much as 10 in the first half, but a Trent Noah three put the Wildcats down single-digits heading into halftime. Kentucky struggled mightily to get back into the game in the second half, as the Hoyas held a steady lead, and even led by as much as 17 with just under 11 minutes to go. What hurt Kentucky? It was a number of things, including struggling to contain Georgetown on ball-screens, and especially in isolation, as the Hoyas had 38 points in the paint. Not only that but Kentucky struggled shooting on offense, even going 0-13 in the second half.

Despite the 'painful' loss, Mark Pope is grateful his team was introduced to the challenge Ed Cooley and his Georgetown presented on Thursday. It's what the Wildcats will be facing in SEC play, especially the physicality part.

"It was exactly what we had kind of hoped to get out of this game, we just hope we have a different outcome and we're massively disappointed with ever losing on this floor," Pope said. "You're always looking to get exposed through these six weeks and trying every way you can to expose yourself. They did an unbelievable job by exposing those spaces where we don't expose ourselves. ...I'm really grateful for it to happen now, rather than the games coming up, because we're going to face this challenge over and over. I'll be honest with you, like, this is painful. We're not going to sleep. It's the worst thing in the world, and I'm really grateful for it that it's happening now, because it gives us a chance to try and grow."

Oct 30, 2025; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope claps on the sideline during the second half against the Georgetown Hoyas at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky never could respond at all on Thursday when they were able to stop Georgetown on offense, but the Wildcats couldn't answer much, and when they did, the Hoyas had answers of their own. The Wildcats struggled all night long on both ends, and the physical play and athleticism is going to be something Kentucky sees a lot this season.