Kentucky escaped Friday night with a 78-77 win over Northern Arizona, but the reaction inside Rupp Arena made it clear this was anything but a comfortable finish.
The Wildcats were staring at a loss in the final seconds before Northern Arizona missed a free throw after Kentucky intentionally fouled. Then Malachi Moreno couldn’t secure the rebound, Kentucky fouled again, and Northern Arizona missed another chance at the line. That opened the door for Alex Wilkins, whose three helped Kentucky survive.
Afterward, Mark Pope was asked what his message was to fans after a game that followed Tuesday’s blowout loss to Kansas and included boos at halftime and again when Northern Arizona briefly took the lead late.
“Well, I hope everybody in Rupp had fun. It was a pretty exciting game,” Pope said after Kentucky’s 78-77 win over Northern Arizona.
“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, it’s really entertaining.
I think this will be a fun team to follow. With one exception, they’re finding ways to win games.
And we’ll continue down that path as we kind of settle the ship and execute better.”
That response quickly drew confusion from fans and around the room, especially with the way the game had unfolded. Kentucky did win, but it was a rough night to watch, even with the dramatic ending.
The bigger picture is simple: this team has work to do, and it needs to do it quickly. The Wildcats have now come through a week that hasn’t gone well, and the pressure only grows if the performances don’t improve soon. Indiana could be waiting next week, and after Friday’s scare, Kentucky can’t afford many more nights like this.
Northern Arizona entered Friday ranked 299th, and Kentucky still needed every bit of Wilkins’ late shot to avoid what would have been a major setback.
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