Mark Pope stood at the podium Saturday night having just watched his Kentucky team grind out a 72–60 win over Indiana, and he made a promise that immediately raised eyebrows across Big Blue Nation.
The Wildcats, after all, have not looked anything like an elite offensive team so far this season. And yet Pope insisted they could become one.
The moment that best captured both Kentucky’s struggle and its hope came midway through the second half. With 13:18 left at Rupp Arena, Kam Williams delivered the ball to Brandon Garrison at the left high post, then cut hard toward the rim. Garrison hit him perfectly, and Williams finished the give-and-go with a layup.
In most Kentucky seasons, the sequence would barely register. For the 2025–26 Wildcats, it stood out as the most fluid offensive action they have produced all year.
That single possession symbolized a team still searching for itself. Kentucky entered the night desperate, winless against high-level competition and starved for confidence. What followed wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty. The Wildcats defended, rebounded and eventually wore Indiana down to claim a much-needed rivalry win.
The return of two key pieces made a difference. Mouhamed Dioubate posted a monster line — 14 points, 12 rebounds and five steals — while Jaland Lowe added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in his return from injury. Their presence helped Kentucky survive an offensive night that, statistically, bordered on alarming.
UK shot just 37.9 percent from the field and an anemic 20 percent from three-point range. The 72 points were the fewest scored by a Mark Pope–coached Kentucky team in a victory. Through 47 games under Pope, no other win had required so little offense.
That reality underscores the larger concern surrounding this team. Against power-conference opponents and Gonzaga, Kentucky is shooting barely 38 percent overall and under 24 percent from deep. Three times in five marquee games, the Wildcats have failed to reach 70 points. In the Pope era, that is essentially a death sentence — Kentucky is winless over the past two seasons when it scores in the 60s.
None of this aligns with Pope’s reputation. He arrived in Lexington known as one of college basketball’s sharper offensive minds. At BYU, his teams routinely ranked among the nation’s most efficient offenses. Even last season, his first at Kentucky, the Wildcats finished 10th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.
That makes the current version of Kentucky feel almost unnatural — like watching a Chick-fil-A sell hamburgers.
Pope acknowledges where his team is right now.
“The chances of us playing a game where we’re firing on all cylinders and making every shot — that’s probably not where we are in our confidence, in our courage and our spirit,” Pope said. “Right now, I’d like to tip the needle and bring back some belief.”
The returns of Lowe and Dioubate helped do just that. Lowe, a 6-foot-1 guard whose season has been disrupted by shoulder injuries, gave Kentucky something it has badly lacked: a player who can consistently break down a defense off the dribble.
“J-Lowe certainly helps us,” Pope said. “He was really terrific being able to re-attack and re-attack and re-attack and find ways to make things happen.”
Dioubate, meanwhile, played the role of enforcer. His five offensive rebounds fueled an 18–6 advantage in second-chance points and helped offset Kentucky’s shooting woes.
“Mo is a big bully, man,” Lowe said. “We need a big bully on our team.”
The immediate challenge only grows steeper. Kentucky’s next opponent is No. 22 St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta — a Rick Pitino–coached team built on defensive pressure and physicality. The Red Storm rank among the nation’s best in adjusted defensive efficiency and allow opponents to shoot just over 30 percent from three.
That is not the kind of matchup where a struggling offense typically finds its rhythm.
And yet, Pope doubled down on his belief.
“I do think we have a chance to be an elite offensive team,” he said. “We’re going to get great, man. We’re going to be relentless, and we will will ourselves into playing some great basketball.”
Given what Kentucky has shown so far against elite competition, turning this offense into anything close to ‘elite’ would border on a coaching miracle. But for the first time in weeks, the Wildcats at least looked like a team capable of fighting its way toward one.
