Mark Pope will continue to 'tweak' Kentucky's starting lineup going forward

Pope says the starting lineup will continue being a 'revolving door.'

Nov 21, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope calls out to his players while forward Trent Noah (9) directs his teammates during the second half against the Loyola (MD) Greyhounds at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky has had their fair share of injuries this season, with Jaland Lowe missing six games and returning against Gonzaga last week for the first time since Nov. 11, Mo Dioubate being out with an ankle sprain since Nov. 18, and of course Jayden Quaintance, who is working his way back from an ACL injury back in March. In that time, Kentucky has made different looks in its starting lineup, especially at the four and five spots.

Mark Pope has been going with Kam Williams at the four lately with Malachi Moreno at the five. Brandon Garrison, in fact, hasn't been in the starting lineup since Michigan State. Pope has been sending a message to him, and as for Williams, the same went for him last game when he didn't play the entire first half likely due to lack of effort in practice, which led the way for Trent Noah to get the start, who Pope said after the game is "all in," not lacking effort. That's true, because he gave a lot of it on Tuesday.

With Jaland Lowe working his way back into playing normal minutes and Quaintance getting ready to join the fold, Pope still plans to continue tweaking the starting lineup often, continuing to experiment with what is working on a game-by-game basis.

"I'm guessing we're gonna have a little revolving door in who starts and who doesn't. It's coach speak, but it's really true. I don't really care that much who starts. I care who plays great," Pope said on Friday. "We've tweaked the lineup a bunch based on health, based on injury, based on performance, and we'll probably keep doing that. ...We're searching for sure, trying to find good answers. We're trying to find a little bit of minute continuity and just exploring a little bit."

Along with what was mentioned earlier about the message Pope sent to Williams on Tuesday by sitting him out in the first half, Pope said the 6-8 wing had his best practice in his time in Lexington on Thursday, and said Garrison responded well in practice with better effort after benching him. It's clear based on Pope's comments about Noah not lacking effort that he really should try starting Trent Noah again on Saturday, because he seemed to give it his all, and when you're searching for guys who are willing to step up, why not continue going with someone who has been doing that consistently?

We'll see what Pope does on Saturday, whether he starts Noah or Williams. One thing is for sure, whoever is out there on the court is going to have to step up and give better effort against more quality opponents, specially with fans being as fed up as they are in their lack in that category, on top of the position they're in right now sitting at 6-4 with all quad 4 wins.