Kentucky’s five-game winning streak didn’t happen by accident. Beneath the box scores and late-game highlights, a clear pattern has emerged — one that suggests Mark Pope may have finally solved the biggest puzzle of his first season in Lexington: who finishes games when it matters most.
After weeks of experimenting with lineups, matchups, and minute distributions, Pope appears to have landed on a consistent closing five. And with that continuity has come chemistry, confidence, and a noticeable improvement in how the Wildcats handle pressure in the final minutes.
Before Kentucky’s win over Texas, Pope hinted that something was starting to click. He felt his players were becoming more comfortable with one another, especially late in games — an area where the Wildcats had struggled earlier in the season.
That wasn’t always the case.
Early on, Kentucky’s end-of-game rotations were constantly shifting. Different players filled different roles depending on the opponent, the matchup, or who had it going that night. Some games saw key contributors glued to the bench in crunch time, while others were asked to step into unfamiliar responsibilities. The constant movement helped build confidence across the roster, but it also slowed the development of late-game rhythm.
“I’ve gone into games expecting one thing and come out surprised by what actually worked,” Pope admitted. Matchups changed. Opponents adjusted. Some nights just didn’t belong to certain players. As a result, Kentucky rarely looked the same down the stretch from one game to the next.
That lack of consistency showed. In three close SEC games earlier this season — a loss to Missouri and narrow wins over LSU and Tennessee — Pope used three different finishing lineups. Chemistry suffered, and mistakes piled up when the margin for error was smallest.
Fast forward to now, and the picture looks very different.
Over the past week and a half, Pope has leaned on a defined closing group: Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Mouhamed Dioubate, and Malachi Moreno. Some of that stability has come out of necessity — injuries to Jaland Lowe, Kam Williams, and Jayden Quaintance have shortened the rotation — but what’s emerged is a unit that works.
The win streak began with a blowout of Mississippi State, a game that didn’t require much late-game maneuvering. But what followed revealed something more meaningful.
In the buzzer-beating win at LSU, Aberdeen, Chandler, Oweh, Williams, and Moreno controlled nearly the final nine minutes together. The next game, Pope swapped Dioubate in for Williams late — and that adjustment stuck.
Since then, that five-man group has closed out three straight close games.
Against Tennessee, they played the final four minutes together and outscored the Vols 9–2. Versus Texas, they handled the last three minutes with poise. And in Saturday’s 72–63 win over Ole Miss, they finished the final five minutes as one unit, outscoring the Rebels 15–9.
Perhaps most telling: Kentucky committed just two total turnovers across the final five minutes of those three games combined.
That ball security has been a defining trait of this stretch.
“I think that’s what’s helping us close games,” Oweh said after the Ole Miss win.
The contrast to earlier struggles is stark. In the loss to Missouri, Kentucky turned the ball over three times in the final four minutes — mistakes that directly fueled a late collapse. That game marked the end of one version of Kentucky’s season. What followed has looked far more composed.
Even when Oweh struggled offensively at Tennessee, Kentucky still found a way.
“And we still won,” Pope said afterward. “Because he’s got good guys around him.
That belief — that no single player has to carry the load — has become central to Kentucky’s identity. Late-game possessions now feature trust, spacing, and players making the right reads instead of forcing hero shots.
Importantly, the rest of the roster hasn’t been left behind. Jasper Johnson, Trent Noah, Andrija Jelavic, and Brandon Garrison continue to contribute meaningful minutes earlier in games, keeping everyone engaged and invested. Against Ole Miss, all nine available Wildcats left their mark on the box score.
That balance has even sparked debate about whether freshman Braydon Hawthorne should burn his redshirt. While Pope hasn’t committed to that move, the fact that it’s even a conversation speaks to the momentum building inside the program.
Now comes the real test.
Road games at Vanderbilt and Arkansas loom, followed by a brutal SEC stretch that includes Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and Auburn. Winning time is about to get much harder.
But for the first time in a while, Kentucky looks prepared.
“It’s fun to chart those last few minutes,” Pope said. “Every guy is making a big play. If you block out the noise, what these guys are doing — it’s really special.”
For a team that spent months searching for answers late, Kentucky may have finally found them.
