Mark Pope says Kentucky is 'earning their belief' in each other

Kentucky's belief is starting to show with their ability to continue making comebacks in games.

Feb 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats center Malachi Moreno (24), guard Jasper Johnson (2) and forward Braydon Hawthorne (right) celebrate from the bench during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats once again came out with a win that saw him that fight back from down a big deficit. Kentucky took a 14-point deficit into halftime. It was a half that included two Tennessee players doing most of the damage. But in the second half, they were shut down, leading to a comeback win in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky went from allowing Tennessee to shoot 8-15 in the first half to holding them to zero threes in the second half, as well as forcing seven turnovers. Those two categories were big reasons why Kentucky was able to pull it off, but they couldn't have done that without having such good belief in each other.

Mark Pope raved about his teams resiliency and multiple guys continuing to step up whenever they need them most.

"Our guys are men," Pope said following Kentucky's win over Tennessee. "They're earning their belief. You know, confidence is an interesting thing because you don't have confidence, no one gives you confidence. You go earn confidence. You earn it. You have to go earn it. You do it by being resilient and never give up and come back and coming back, coming back. Our guys are earning some confidence."

"think it’s belief, I really do," Pope continued. "It’s part of losing ourselves in our commitment to the team.  You know, one of the things about taking some tough losses is it can steal you of your own personal agendas really fast.  If you are willing to be humble, it can steal your personal agendas really fast. The blessing of it is if you do it right, once you lose those agendas, you have a chance to be together. I think our guys are celebrating each other today."

Kentucky allowed just 24 points in the second half after allowing an abysmal 47 points in the first. Nate Ament and Ja'Kobi Gillespie combined for 33 points in the first half, but were held to just 11 in the second. The comeback was all about resiliency, but they couldn't have done it without believing in each other. Now, it seems like they're doing that more easily.