Final. A bad game all the way around to finish the season. I think overall it was a good first season for Coach Pope at Kentucky. Let's see who he can in through the portal and recruiting.  Cats finish the season at 24-12 the Vols improve to 30-7 and will play in the Elite 8 vs. Houston or Purdue. The Vols are the 3 SEC team to advance to the Elite 8.

The difference between this game and the others was UK allowed Tennessee to outwork them in the first half and they were never able to dig out. Pretty poor effort from them in the first half. Some of that lays at Pope's feet. 

Solid season, this is exactly what I expected in terms of how far they’d go and who they’d lose to. I just wish they’d have shown a better effort in this game. 
 

I’m excited for the future. 

Tennessee was simply the better team tonight in all areas. They out worked, out executed, out coached, and just basically did everything better than the Cats today. 
 

Overall good first season for Pope. I would say one of the biggest things he needs to do moving forward is get a team that is a little more athletic. 

Just now, TheDeuce said:

The difference between this game and the others was UK allowed UK to outwork them in the first half and they were never able to dig out. Pretty poor effort from them in the first half. Some of that lays at Pope's feet. 

Agreed. that's honestly been an issue all year. As this team has gotten down double digits a lot this year. Which is a dangerous thing to do, especially come tournament time. 

I feel the better team one tonight. I also feel our boys were extremely lazy on the boards. Tennessee played in your face defense the whole first half and we couldn’t make “the” shot to force them to back off. Second half was a story of not getting any stops. The Cats got it to 12 and Vols make a shot. Wasn’t our night but lack of effort on the boards is what disappointed me the most.

Great year.

Wins over Duke, UL (as always), Florida and 2 of 3 against Tennessee…

A sweet 16, the farthest we’ve been in several years.

No complaints from this guy !

Great point and I’ll reel it in a little. If you told me this is how the season played out I would’ve taken it no questions asked. The only issue is I am a UK fan and I feel like if we don’t win it all it’s a disappointment. I know I know it’s not a realistic way of thinking. Great job this year boys. Great job coach Pope

While UK shot a good percentage from the threes they did take. However, Tennessee had a great game plan and took away what UK wants to do. UK averaged I believe 28 threes a game, and only shot basically half of that in this one.  UK isn’t athletic enough in regards to driving the lane consistently, and shooting threes is a big part of their offense.  UK only had 58 points with 2 minutes left in the game. Great coaching and execution by the players on Tennessee.  

I was watching Ole Miss and Michigan State and only ocasionally glanced at the score in the upper corner.  Did Tennessee lead wire to wire?

Cats went up 3-2 and that was that.

10 minutes ago, MBWC41 said:

Great year.

Wins over Duke, UL (as always), Florida and 2 of 3 against Tennessee…

A sweet 16, the farthest we’ve been in several years.

No complaints from this guy !

I could have not said it better. I would add for the season they were 12-11 in Quad 1 games, 2-1 in Quad 2 games, 4-0 in Quad 3 games. Plus, they had 7 wins over teams ranked in the top 15 which is the most in program history.

4 minutes ago, Breds82 said:

Cats went up 3-2 and that was that.

To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson:
"Tis better to have led and lost, than to have never led at all."

1 minute ago, Bluto said:

To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson:
"Tis better to have lead and lost, than to have never lead at all."

As always Bluto you can make me laugh even after a tough Cats loss.

1 minute ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

As always Bluto you can make me laugh even after a tough Cats loss.

My work here is done.