Kentucky basketball: Mark Pope on beating undefeated Florida Gators
Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach Mark Pope discusses how his team battled to hand the Florida Gators their first loss of the season.
ATHENS, Ga. — Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope and his first-year staff have never faced Georgia.
But connections about between the two programs heading into tonight’s game at Stegeman Coliseum.
Pope’s coaching career began at Georgia in 2009, when he joined the staff as the program’s director of basketball operations. The Bulldogs’ coach at that time was Mark Fox, who now is an associate coach for the Wildcats. Pope worked for Fox for one season (2009-10) before leaving to become an assistant coach at Wake Forest.
Fox led the Bulldogs for nine seasons (2009-10 through 2017-18), compiling a record of 163-133 (.551). He also had head-coaching stints at Nevada (2004-05 through 2008-09) and Cal (2019-20 through 2022-23). Fox has a 324-263 (.552) record in 18 seasons as a college coach.
In addition to Fox and Pope, there’s another link between this season’s Wildcats and Bulldogs: Somto Cyril, a freshman center for Georgia, originally was part of Kentucky’s 2024 signing class. But after former UK coach John Calipari left for Arkansas, Cyril was released from his letter of intent with the Wildcats, eventually signing with the Bulldogs.
Will Pope and Fox leave with a win over their former employer? Or will Georgia notch its third consecutive home victory over Kentucky, which is ranked seventh in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll and is No. 6 in the AP Top 25 rankings?
Here’s what you need to know to follow today’s game from home:
The contest between the Wildcats and Bulldogs will air on SEC Network. John Schriffen (play-by-play) and Richard Hendrix (analyst) will have the call.
Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
You also can stream SEC Network on Fubo, which offers a free trial.
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.
You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.
Betting odds: Kentucky is a 2-point road favorite (-110) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 152 ½ points (-108). The money line odds are Kentucky -135, Georgia +114.
- Oct. 23: exhibition vs. Kentucky Wesleyan ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 123, Kentucky Wesleyan 52
- Oct. 29: exhibition vs. Minnesota State Mankato ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 98, Minnesota State Mankato 67
- Nov. 4: vs. Wright State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 103, Wright State 62
- Nov. 9: vs. Bucknell (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 100, Bucknell 72
- Nov. 12: vs. Duke (Champions Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Duke 72
- Nov. 19: vs. Lipscomb, (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 97, Lipscomb 68
- Nov. 22: vs. Jackson State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 108, Jackson State 59
- Nov. 26: vs. Western Kentucky (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 87, Western Kentucky 68
- Nov. 29: vs. Georgia State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 105, Georgia State 76
- Dec. 3: at Clemson (ACC/SEC Challenge) ∣ SCORE: Clemson 70, Kentucky 66
- Dec. 7: vs. Gonzaga (Climate Pledge Arena; Seattle) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 90, Gonzaga 89 (OT)
- Dec. 11: vs. Colgate (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 78, Colgate 67
- Dec. 14: vs. Louisville (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 93, Louisville 85
- Dec. 21: vs. Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York) | SCORE: Ohio State 85, Kentucky 65
- Dec. 31: vs. Brown (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 88, Brown 54
- Jan. 4: vs. Florida (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 106, Florida 100
- Jan. 7: at Georgia, 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 11: at Mississippi State, 8:30 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 14: vs. Texas A&M (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
- Jan. 18: vs. Alabama (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN
- Jan. 25: at Vanderbilt, 2:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
- Jan. 28: at Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 1: vs. Arkansas (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 4: at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 8: vs. South Carolina (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN/ESPN2
- Feb. 11: vs. Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 15: at Texas, 8 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 19: vs. Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Feb. 22: at Alabama, 6 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 26: at Oklahoma, 9 p.m., SEC Network
- March 1: vs. Auburn (Rupp Arena), 1/4 p.m., ABC/ESPN
- March 4: vs. LSU (Rupp Arena), 7/9 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
- March 8: at Missouri, noon, ESPN/SEC Network
Record: 12-2 (1-0 SEC)
- Ansley Almonor (forward, senior)
- Koby Brea (guard, graduate)
- Lamont Butler (guard, graduate)
- Andrew Carr (forward, graduate)
- Collin Chandler (guard, freshman)
- Grant Darbyshire (guard, junior)
- Brandon Garrison (forward, sophomore)
- Walker Horn (guard, junior)
- Kerr Kriisa (guard, senior)
- Trent Noah (forward, freshman)
- Otega Oweh (guard, junior)
- Travis Perry (guard, freshman)
- Jaxson Robinson (guard, graduate)
- Zach Tow (forward, junior)
- Amari Williams (center, graduate)
Georgia went 20-17 overall last season, posting a 6-12 mark in SEC play. Its season ended in an 84-67 loss to Seton Hall in the semifinals of the National Inviational Tournament.
The Bulldogs are 12-2 this season. They dropped one game in nonconference play (to Marquette in The Bahamas). UGA, which is 0-1 in conference competition, suffered a 63-51 setback at Ole Miss last week.
Georgia has beaten Kentucky in consecutive games at Stegeman Coliseum, earning a seven-point win in 2023 (75-68) and one-point triumph in 2021 (63-62). The Bulldogs haven’t lost at home this season (9-0) and have won 11 straight at Stegeman dating back to last season; it’s tied for the sixth longest home win streak in school history.
Click here to see the Bulldogs’ full 2024-25 schedule.
Want to learn the Bulldogs’ roster?
Click here for player bios and more.
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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
