A lot of times, basketball is bigger than the sport alone. That's exactly the type of people Mark Pope is getting to join the Kentucky program when he goes out

Hating Kentucky isn’t cool or fun anymore because Kentucky’s coach is both. Mark Pope is relentlessly likable, which means Kentucky basketball has become likable. Adjust accordingly.

Pope played two seasons at Kentucky, winning a national championship with the program in 1996 under legendary coach Rick Pitino. Following five seasons piloting BYU, Pope accepted the head job for the Wildcats this past April to succeed John Calipari.

Kentucky basketball has already picked up a signature win on their resume three games in by beating No. 6 Duke on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic. A win

Kentucky basketball has its first signature win of the Mark Pope coaching era. The No. 19-ranked Wildcats toppled No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night at State Farm Arena. Despite trailing by as many as 10 points late in the first half,

Mark Pope delivered an early signature win as Kentucky's head coach, but he's putting the attention on his players.

Just three days after former Kentucky coach John Calipari guided a team that only took 20 3-pointers, and made a mere five of them, in a neutral-court loss to a Big 12 team that had just lost to a West Coast Conference opponent by 38 points,

No. 19 Kentucky got its first look at a big dog Tuesday with its game against No. 6 Duke, and by walking away from the Champions Classic clash with the 77-72 win, the Wildcats proved themselves to still be big dogs too.

Otega Oweh knocked down four free throws in the final 10.3 seconds and No. 19 Kentucky claimed the first big win of Mark Pope’s coaching tenure.

Pope has taught his team to keep "coming in waves" and continue to attack. He doesn't want them to stop if it isn't working. Instead, keep going at their opponent. He used offensi