Mark Pope emphasizes Kentucky to continue "coming in waves"

Pope wants the Wildcats to keep working to improve and not stop.

Nov 9, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during the second half against the Bucknell Bison at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky scratched and clawed their way to the big win over No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic after making some really important adjustments at halftime. One thing that Mark Pope has made clear to his players, is if thing's aren't going your way with a particular part of the game, just keep doing it.

Pope has taught his team to keep "coming in waves" and continue to attack. He doesn't want them to stop if it isn't working. Instead, keep going at their opponent. He used offensive rebounding as an example, something he has been challenging his team to keep improving at.

"We don't like being rejected. We don't like coming up short. We don't like it. When we're not successful at something, we kind of wanna walk away and do something different. That's what I was talking about postgame, I think our last game, about emotional resilience. This ability to be like, man, I've got on the glass seven times. I'm getting elbowed in the face every single time, and on time number eight, am I gonna go to the glass as hard as I can? Am I gonna go time number nine with no fruit for my labor? I've gone nine times and come up empty. Why am I going to waste the energy to go a tenth time? The tenth time is when you have the breakthrough. Don't turn back. That's emotional resilience. That's what champs do. ...They get hit and hit again, they come up short, ...but they refuse to stop coming. The whole idea of us coming in waves."

- Pope on continuing through hardships.

Kentucky had their backs nearly against the wall at halftime down nine against Duke, but continuing to fight through those hardships wen't things weren't going their way was a big factor in their process to get the big win. They'll certainly continue to carry that mindset through the rest of the season.