After a sluggish start against Vanderbilt that saw Kentucky fall into a 26-12 hole in the first 12 minutes, head coach Mark Pope knew something had to change. Waiting for his team to snap out of slow starts wasn’t an option anymore. So, ahead of their trip to face Arkansas, Pope and his staff hit reset-not just on the game plan, but on the entire rhythm of game day.
This wasn’t just about X’s and O’s. It was about energy, urgency, and flipping the switch from the opening tip. And to do that, Pope made a bold move: crank up the intensity in practice, even with a roster that’s been thinned by injuries.
Turning Up the Heat in Practice
“We actually tried to work on a couple of segments where we went full gas, 100 percent intensity,” Pope said during his weekly radio appearance with Tom Leach. “Our guys did a nice job... You can't do that too long in practice, especially when you are down to the limited number of available players we are.”
That’s a calculated gamble. When you’re already dealing with a short bench, pushing the few healthy bodies you’ve got could backfire.
But Pope wasn’t after volume-he was after impact. The idea was simple: get the team used to playing at full throttle from the jump.
Create a physical and mental expectation that the game starts at full speed, not after easing into it.
And that shift in mindset showed up when it mattered most.
Game Day, Reimagined
The biggest tweak didn’t happen on the court-it happened in the hours leading up to tip-off. Normally, Pope likes his team to “smell the gym,” getting into the arena early to get a feel for the environment. It’s a routine part of their preparation.
But for this one? They scrapped it.
“We also go smell the gym, [but] we didn’t do that just to simplify the schedule,” Pope said. “We shortened our hour-long pregame on-court prep.”
Instead of sticking to tradition, Pope trimmed the fat. No early arena walkthrough.
No extended warmups. Less time on their feet, more energy in the tank.
The goal was to keep the players’ legs fresh and their minds clear-ready to bring the juice from the opening whistle.
The Results Speak for Themselves
It’s a small sample size, Pope admitted, but the contrast between the Vanderbilt and Arkansas games couldn’t be more stark.
Against Vanderbilt: Kentucky opened 1-for-11 from the field and looked flat. The result? A 14-point deficit before the game had even settled in.
Against Arkansas: Kentucky came out blazing, hitting 10 of their first 11 shots and jumping out to a 28-23 lead. That’s not just a hot start-that’s a full-on tone-setter, especially on the road against a ranked team.
That kind of turnaround doesn’t happen by accident. Whether it was the “full gas” practice segments or the stripped-down game day routine-or, more likely, the combination of both-Pope found a formula that worked. And with a grueling SEC schedule ahead, he may have stumbled upon a blueprint for how this team needs to operate moving forward.
It’s not about reinventing the wheel. It’s about understanding your team’s energy, their rhythm, and how to get the best version of them right out of the gate.
Pope took a risk, made some bold calls, and it paid off. Now the challenge is replicating that formula as the stakes continue to rise.