On Friday, Mark Pope was asked what his memories of the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry are and gave a simple answer: “winning.” Turns out it goes a little deeper than that. Upon further review Friday night, Pope remembered that he actually lost to the Cardinals in his first season as a Wildcat, which prompted a panic attack.
“You guys know I have a terrible memory. I actually was with Lee Anne yesterday, and it was last night as we’re sitting there trying to figure, you know? So I looked up the two games that I actually played in, and the game my junior year, we lost by two at Louisville. And when I saw it, I was like, wait, what?”
It’s true. Kentucky lost to Louisville 88-86 in Freedom Hall on Jan. 1, 1995, with Pope scoring 9 points on 4-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the free-throw line. He also had a team-high 10 rebounds, but none of that mattered on the bus ride back to Lexington…