Mark Pope says Jaxson Robinson had a better mindset going into Mississippi State game

Robinson had a season-high performance against Mississippi State.
Dec 31, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Jaxson Robinson (2) reacts after being called for a foul during the first half against the Brown Bears at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
Dec 31, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Jaxson Robinson (2) reacts after being called for a foul during the first half against the Brown Bears at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
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Kentucky basketball got back on the right track in their win against No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday. After a loss on the road at Georgia on Tuesday, the Wildcats showed some serious fight against Mississippi State, responding well to things that went wrong in Tuesday's loss. Aside from responding to the physicality and rebounding issues well, Kentucky scored the ball very efficiently against the Bulldogs after scoring just 69 points against Georgia.

Ball movement was excellent, as the Wildcats were able to combat Mississippi State's aggressiveness with a lot of movement to keep the swarming Bulldog defense on their toes. Kentucky assisted on 21 of their 34 made shots. Through those assists came a season-high 27 points for Jaxson Robinson on 9-12 shooting overall and 7-10 from three-point range. Robinson was cooking in Starkville, and a big reason why Kentucky came out with the top 15 win.

Not only did he just have 27 points, but he was one of a couple of players that made a clutch shots in the final minutes that jumpstarted some big momentum for Kentucky. He came up huge in a hostile environment, and Mark Pope said after the game that Robinson had incredible focus leading up to the game. The head coach has coached Robinson for three seasons now, and he says Robinson has never had a game like that of that magnitude.

"It's the best part of coaching. You just see guys grow and do things that they didn't know if they could do in times where they didn't know if they could do them. When you get to be a part of that, it's really special. Jax is unbelievable. He had a really tough week. He had a lot of frustration, a lot of things that he was concerned about and a lot of stress in his life, from basketball, off the court, everywhere. He came to me (Saturday) morning - We talked a couple of days ago and he's been unbelievable in practice the last two days with his voice, his energy, his juice, and his freshness. He told me this morning, he was like, I've been worried about making shots, missing shots, worried about my future, all of the things. He's just like, I just want to go compete and go play, and let all that stuff take care of itself. And when you get a young guy who can get himself to that place, then you see performances like (Saturday). ...He's done this before. He hasn't done it on this big of a stage. He hasn't done it in this league this way...against a ranked team on the road, but he sure has done it now."

Pope on Robinson's performance Saturday.

It's great to see Robinson have one of the best games of his career after struggling recently, and he did it when Kentucky needed to respond and fight after Tuesday's loss. He and the Wildcats will look to carry the response over to Tuesday when they take on No. 10 Texas A&M in Rupp Arena.


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Wyatt Huff
WYATT HUFF

University of Kentucky Basketball and Football beat writer.