< Previous10 @KentuckyMBB$ 600+ IN SAVINGS EVERY WEEK WITH DIGITAL COUPONS Scan here to start saving. Official Grocer of UK Athletics.WEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m. 12 @KentuckyMBB14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row The Mark Pope Era Begins When his alma mater came calling, Mark Pope knew there was no place like home. Pope, a captain of the University of Ken- tucky’s 1996 National Championship team, returned to Lexington as the 23rd head coach of Kentucky’s storied men’s basketball program on April 12. • A nine-year coaching veteran with stops at Utah Valley and BYU • Owns a career record of 187-108 • His squads have won 20 or more games in six of the last seven seasons • He's advanced teams to six postsea- son appearances. Another squad, his 2020 BYU team, would have been in the NCAA Tournament had the COVID pandemic not canceled postseason play • Pope was 110-52 (67.9%) at BYU where three of his five teams ranked among the top 20 of the Ken Pomeroy efficiency rankings • Pope is coming off a 23-11 season in 2023-24. It was BYU’s first season in the Big 12 Conference and the Cougars’ 10-8 league record featured victories Associated Press Poll All-Time Leader Not only is Kentucky the nation's all- time wins leader and the team with the best all-time winning percent- age, it has been ranked in the Associated Press more than any other program. Kentucky has been ranked in the AP poll during 970 weeks in the poll's 76-year history. North Carolina (957), Duke (893), Kansas (860) and UCLA (738) round out the top five. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 for the first time in the second month of the poll in Feb. 1949. UK has played a total of 252 games as the nation’s top-ranked team. UK Ranked to Begin the Season Led by first-year head coach Mark Pope, Ken- tucky will begin the sea- son ranked at No. 23 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll. • This is the 57th time in program history that the Wildcats are among the top-rated teams to open the season in 64 preseason AP polls. • It marks the 59th time in 75 seasons that UK is ranked in the preseason coaches poll • Kentucky leads all programs with 970 appearances in the weekly AP poll, which is in its 76th season. • Ten Kentucky opponents enter the 2024-25 season ranked in both the AP Top 25 and coaches poll for 12 total matchups with preseason ranked foes • A nation-leading nine Southeastern Conference squads begin the season ranked. Here's to You, Mr. Robinson Kentucky guard Jaxson Robinson was named to the preseason All-Southeastern Conference Third Team as announced in mid October. • The grad transfer from Brigham Young University comes to Kentucky as the 2023- 24 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year after lead- ing Mark Pope’s Cougars in scoring at 14.2 points per game • Robinson was the first bench player in BYU program history to pace the team in scoring and did so while shooting 42.6% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the 3-point arc, all career-bests. • Robinson reached double-digit scor- ing in 25 of 33 games played last season, connecting on 81 3-pointers and burying at least one triple in each of the team’s final 21 games. Old But New Mark Pope's inaugural roster features a bevy of experience led by six players in their fifth year of collegiate basketball. The roster also has a senior, a junior and sophomore, and three freshmen. The roster is one of the most experienced in the country, but not a single player enters the season having appeared in a game for Kentucky. UK’s veteran lineup has played in 845 career games, played 20,741 minutes, made 586 starts, scored 7,900 points and sunk 1,033 3-pointers at a 37.0% rate. That is all more than any team in the his- tory of Kentucky basketball entering a sea- son (minutes statistics available through the 1964-65 season). Kentucky's other most-veteran squads were the 2021-22 squad which played 13,385 total minutes and scored 5,203 ca- reer points. Pope's 1996 team -- hailed as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time -- had career point totals of 5,232. The 2002-03 squad had 559 games to its roster.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEAround the SEC Around the Country Final 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Tennessee 14-4 24-7 14-2 8-3 South Carolina 13-5 25-6 14-3 8-3 Auburn 13-5 24-7 15-1 5-5 Kentucky 13-5 23-8 14-4 7-3 Alabama 13-5 21-10 14-2 5-5 Florida 11-7 21-10 14-1 3-7 Texas A&M 9-9 18-13 10-5 6-6 LSU 9-9 17-14 12-5 3-8 Mississippi State 8-10 19-12 11-4 2-8 Ole Miss 7-11 20-11 15-4 4-7 Georgia 6-12 16-15 12-6 4-6 Arkansas 6-12 15-16 11-6 2-7 Vanderbilt 4-14 9-22 8-10 1-9 Missouri 0-18 8-23 6-11 2-10 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Knecht, Dalton, UT ....................................................21.67 Sears, Mark, ALA ........................................................21.54 Reeves, Antonio, UK ..................................................20.21 Taylor IV, Wade, TA&M .............................................. 19.08 East II, Sean, MIZZOU .................................................17.63 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Garcia, Andersson, TA&M ............................................9.08 Broome, Johni, AUB .................................................... 8.54 Samuel, Tyrese, UF ...................................................... 7.44 Aidoo, Jonas, UT .......................................................... 7.31 Mitchell, Tre, UK ...........................................................7.19 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zeigler, Zakai, UT ..........................................................6.06 Pullin, Zyon, UF ............................................................4.91 Estrada, Aaron, ALA .......................................................4.62 Sheppard, Reed, UK ......................................................4.48 Cooper, Ta'lon, USC ......................................................4.24 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Sheppard, Reed, UK ......................................................2.48 Matthews, Cameron, MSU .............................................2.09 Taylor IV, Wade, TA&M .................................................1.83 Zeigler, Zakai, UT ..........................................................1.72 Wright, Jordan, LSU .......................................................1.67 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Sharp, Jamarion, MISS ...................................................2.42 Broome, Johni, AUB ......................................................2.23 Aidoo, Jonas, UT ..........................................................1.83 Nelson, Grant, ALA .......................................................1.62 Cardwell, Dylan, AUB ...................................................1.60 2024-25 Associated Press Rankings As of November 1, 2024 (preseason) Team Record Points 1 Kansas (30) 0-0 1449 2 Alabama (14) 0-0 1428 3 UConn (11) 0-0 1345 4 Houston (4) 0-0 1343 5 Iowa State 0-0 1177 6 Gonzaga (1) 0-0 1157 7 Duke 0-0 1154 8 Baylor 0-0 1109 9 North Carolina 0-0 1037 10 Arizona 0-0 905 11 Auburn 0-0 901 12 Tennessee 0-0 775 13 Texas A&M 0-0 737 14 Purdue 0-0 678 15 Creighton 0-0 631 16 Arkansas 0-0 625 17 Indiana 0-0 492 18 Marquette 0-0 484 19 Texas 0-0 332 20 Cincinnati 0-0 271 21 Florida 0-0 249 22 UCLA 0-0 210 23 Kentucky 0-0 191 24 Ole Miss 0-0 132 25 Rutgers 0-0 102 18 @KentuckyMBBWe’re your Shield. 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