Mark Pope Gets Unexpected Lifeline as Alex Wilkins Saves Kentucky After Kansas Humiliation

Just four days after a 20-point loss to Kansas, Kentucky found itself staring at another uncomfortable finish. What was expected to be a confidence-building game against Northern Arizona instead turned into a last-second thriller at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats suffered a 20-point loss to Kansas on Tuesday in front of nearly 19,000 fans.

Against Northern Arizona on Friday, Kentucky had an opportunity to respond. Instead, the Wildcats spent much of the second half fighting to avoid an upset against a team ranked 299th in KenPom that had lost its first three games by an average of more than 20 points. Kentucky took an eight-point lead in the first half, but NAU took control of the game late in the second half.

Frustrated fans began chanting “Fire Mark Pope” as the Wildcats allowed the visitors to seize momentum. With the fans losing their patience, the Wildcats tried to make comebacks but were met with answers from the visitors.

But with 10 seconds left in the game, they caught a break when Max Majerle missed a free throw, leaving Kentucky with a chance to win the game with the score standing at 77-75.

In the following play, Malachi Moreno lost the ball, but Kentucky received another opportunity when Chris Komin missed another free throw for NAU. This time, Wilkins didn’t waste the opportunity and hit a corner 3-pointer to give Kentucky a 78-77 lead, which eventually became the final score.

“It’s who he is. He has got a fearless nature to him,” Pope said, calling Wilkins’ 3-pointer an “important shot.”

The drama of the finish was amplified by what had happened just days earlier against Kansas. While the Kansas defeat was not historically unusual on its own, the margin and the circumstances left Kentucky under scrutiny entering Friday’s game.

NAU was ranked 299th in KenPom entering the matchup.

The Lumberjacks were expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference and had lost their first three games by an average of over 20 points.

Had Kentucky lost, it would have ranked among the most damaging defeats of the Mark Pope era and intensified criticism surrounding the program’s early-season struggles.

NAU wasn’t supposed to do what it did on Friday. Yet it pushed Kentucky to the brink before Wilkins delivered the decisive shot.

Pope described the game as an exciting battle despite Kentucky’s struggles.

“I hope everybody at Rupp had fun. It was a pretty exciting game. You saw a Northern Arizona team that was playing great basketball and a Kentucky team that was trying to find themselves, and it came down to the last second.

It’s pretty entertaining, if not well-executed. I think this would be a fun team to follow. This team is, with one exception, finding ways to win games, and we’ll continue down that path as we try to kind of steady the ship and execute better.”

The great Adolph Rupp coached 1,066 games and recorded seven losses by 20 points or more during his tenure. Pope has already suffered five losses of at least 20 points in just 76 games as Kentucky’s head coach.

Those numbers have fueled frustration among portions of the fan base, particularly given the expectations attached to the program.

Pope’s name will always be written in Kentucky history books because of his role on the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team. As a player, his place in program history is secure. As a coach, however, he continues to face pressure to deliver results that match Kentucky’s standard.

In his first two years as head coach, the Wildcats went 46-26. The program went 20-16 in SEC play and followed a Sweet 16 appearance with a second-round NCAA Tournament exit.

In his third season, Kentucky is now 3-1.

The victory over Northern Arizona kept that record moving in the right direction, but the performance itself is unlikely to quiet questions surrounding a team that was expected to look much more comfortable against an overmatched opponent.

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