Mark Pope was brutally honest on Friday about where his team is at right now

Pope admits he wishes his team would have been further along by now.

Nov 14, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope walks down the sideline during the second half against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats were able to notch a much-needed win under their belt on Friday in a 99-53 blowout win over the Eastern Illinois Panthers. It came after an embarassing trip to Louisville that included a lot of uncharacteristic moments and a team that looked rattled essentially from the start. Counting the exhibitions, Kentucky has shown a clear lack in transition defense, but a lot of it seems to be issues with effort.

Kentucky may have gotten a dominating win on Friday, but it wasn't against a cream of the crop opponent like the one coming up in Michigan State. Outside of Purdue, the Wildcats haven't looked good so far against the quality opponents they've played. Georgetown and Louisville play similar styles, but they're a contrast of how Purdue likes to play. Louisville loves to play fast, but it seems like Kentucky's effort wasn't there, and in the exhibition against Purdue, Kentucky couldn't switch and stop guys from getting downhill.

They certainly seem like fixable problems, but Mark Pope was brutally honest about where his team is at right now, and he feels they should be futher ahead than they are right now.

"I have this feeling that I'm a little behind with this team," Pope said on the UK Sports Network. "We're still asking some basic foundational questions about who we are right now. I wish we were further along. We're in a place right now where we're learning some painful lessons."

Speaking of transition defense specifically, that's one area Pope singled out as not being good enough, even taking responsibility for not emphasizing the importance of getting back fast in transition, which was a very glaring problem in the Louisville game. "I've been disappointed with my ability and commitment to explain to our guys what it means to sprint back in transition. We've always said first three steps as a mantra. We went to sprint through half court, and still we were seeing not a good effort. That's not a championship effort tonight for most of the night.”

Mark Pope noted Michigan State is one of the fastest running teams in transition in the entire country, and he knows his guys must be prepared for that. It's good to see your coach take responsibility for such a glaring issue, and with how much he emphasized it on Friday after the game, that has to be a top priority when they face the Spartans in Madison Square Garden.