The Mark Pope era is off to a promising start following the Kentucky Wildcats’ 123-52 win over Kentucky Wesleyan to kick off the exhibition season.

Following the game, head coach Mark Pope and select players met with the media to discuss their first real basketball game of the season.

Here is a recap of what they had to say via UK Athletics.

MARK POPE: Yeah. I’m really grateful for Kentucky Wesleyan. I love opportunities to play championship teams. This is a veteran championship team that’s going to have another great year. What Drew’s done at Wesleyan is incredible. It’s such a storied program. They essentially have the majority of the roster back. Missing one legitimate big, big piece. They played the right way and they are going to have a ton of success. So, I’m super grateful to them. It was a good night for us. I’m really proud of our guys. The way they – their focus was tremendous. Their decision-making, for the most part was really good. They are very much on their toes and in attack mode and that’s where we like to be.

Q Mark, first game, 12 new players, but it looked pretty cohesive no matter what lineup combination you had. Did that surprise you?

MARK POPE: I was pleased as much as I was surprised. I was just pleased. I thought our focus on playing 52 feet. Wesleyan is a good defensive team and what they do is they really crowd and really gap heavy and punish you raking gaps and I thought our guys from the very beginning did a tremendous job about making plays for a teammate and playing o5 2 feet, winning the gap ,being really judicious, and really sharing the ball the way that we hope to and anticipate that we will. The best part of it was it’s the first night, the first time these guys have ever been into a game together, the first time in this building in a game in o5icial uniforms in front of our fans. There’s all the distractions that come with it. So much new today as we went through our first game day. There were a couple of funny moments in shootaround where I was just moving on the next thing and I realize that nobody on the team knows what the next thing is because we’ve not got anybody that’s done it besides Jaxson. These guys did a great job taking on all the new and really executing it. That’s our standard. That’s what we expect from our guys and I was proud of that. I was pleased with it more than surprised.

Q Mark. You said last week at SEC media days that you wanted to see your team get exposed going up against someone new. I don’t know how much you can nitpick over a 71-point win but did you see any cracks that you were looking for or anything like that?

MARK POPE: Yeah, there’s ways we can improve and we are going to continue to improve on our communication. I felt like we were dialed in most game. We had a couple of little spaces where we kind of lost ourselves and we was exposed on the glass a little bit with a team that really shoots a lot of balls and they end up being long rebounds and so we were exposed there a little bit where we can individually and collectively, where we can see that on film. See us doing it, where we errored in our instinct to go get a hit and then where we were really successful. I think we can learn and grow from that. I think we can also learn from things we did well. You know, we will take every experience and learn everything we can. But there are certainly things we can quote from this. What we learned.

We really do believe that seeing yourselves or somebody execute it right is actually a better teacher than seeing us do it wrong. So we are pretty judicious about how we do that and so there are some good right stu5 that we show tonight also.

Q Mark, Otega came out very aggressive in the early going and was efficient o5ensively throughout the game. Just what have you seen from him over the course of the summer until now and how can he open up the o5ense when he plays like that?

MARK POPE: I was so proud of Otega tonight. You know, I actually wondered if this was going to be a little bit of a complicated game for him. Because it is such a heavy gap team. His decision-making about when he attacked all the way to the rim and when he came to two feet was brilliant and actually incredible all night long. And first time here, first time playing this way, first time playing with these guys. For his decision-making to be so good, I was really, really proud of him. Listen, he is a big body. He’s got big broad shoulders and he is really powerful at the rim. He carves out space and he actually puts a shoulder in your chest when he turns your hips and creates some space for him to go finish and he is really explosive downhill but he’s always been that but what’s been really brilliant to watch is his decision-making about when he chooses to get there and when he chooses to be a two foot guy and a two-handed guy and he was great tonight.

Q Mark, back here. How much did this night mean to you? Back to the pregame introduction, normally the crowd roars the loudest for whoever is their favorite. Eventually maybe later in the season that will be one of the players. Yours was the loudest. How much did tonight mean to you?

MARK POPE: Well, I think this is special for all of us. This is really never going to be about me. I’m the most blessed person in the world that I get to be back here as part of BBN and I’m blessed I get to coach this group of guys. We still have so much growing to do. The fact we get to be in this building with these great fans and wearing this incredibly tradition filled flagship jersey is just super humbling. I think all of those things are really meaningful to me. It’s incredibly important.

Q Kentucky shot 42 threes tonight and you think you can keep up that pace in future games?

MARK POPE: Well, I hope so. It’s hard to get 42 up. It’s really hard to do that. Our goal is to be over 30 and that can get really complicated to get to 30. I thought we turned a couple down tonight that I wish we would had taken. I like the fact, what I like is most of the shots were earned. There wasn’t a lot of belligerent shooting. There was a lot of shots that were earned. We earned them a bunch of different ways, and we earned them by racing the space and by screening and earning by finishing cuts. We earn them by feeling pressure, hitting corner. We earn them by sprinting to the deep corner and making sure our spacing is right and I thought our did guys did a terrific job earning those shots although there are several that we left on the table and four or five places where we had good penetration either by the pass or o5 the bounce. And we didn’t fill the corner behind it. We will continue to get better and better at that and what happens is as we get better and better filling the corner it stretches defense and we get a lot of burn cuts and a lot of 45 degree passes. You turn down the hammer and actually choose the 45 degree and it gets really complicated that first pass rotation guy. We still have a lot of space to grow there.

Q Mark, kind of a two-part question. First, when you were dreaming about this game and thinking about it. Was this exactly how you would have hope it would go in terms of eight players in double figures and 60 percent from the field. 50 percent from three. And also, maybe the anxiousness of like, hey – you want to win big, because you don’t want the fan base first experience to see we squeaked by and barely won a game kind of thing?

MARK POPE: We are deadly serious about winning. Winning matters. I don’t spend a lot of time – I don’t spend as much time – I know this sounds very contradictory. I don’t know exactly how to explain it. We are here to win. This is Kentucky. The first time we don’t win a game you guys are all going to go burn my house down. Okay?

We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what this sheet is going to look like after the game. We spend all of our time thinking about what we are trying to do in the moment. Right? And so, I think of course there is all the nerves. It’s the first time in this building. This is Kentucky and there is massive expectations and all of those things. You know, I’m really consumed with seeing how fast we can get better. The way we get better by just being dialed in on exactly what we are doing. I wasn’t anticipating seeing anything on the stat sheet. I was just curious on how well do we coach our guys being great decision-makers and all the ways we do it and how well we can get our guys – I was really concerned about our energy. This is the first time. We try to keep it at 4 or 5 very focused but in terms of emotional energy we try to live at like a 3, 4, and 5. And then we are trying to get to a 9 or 9.5 during games where we can still function making decisions. This is a long drawn out conversation we don’t have time for. But I was thinking more about our energy. I took at the shot at the guys before the game in the locker room and I was really trying to spend all of my energy trying to gauge our energy and the guys were probably better than I was in terms of the energy that they came out with to be able to have great intensive energy but still be a decision-maker and executing.

We are spending a lot more time thinking about those things. Then this just happens because of what we are focusing on.

Q Coach. What did you think about the way Trent Noah and Travis Perry played and what do you think about having them on the floor at the same time?

MARK POPE: Trent is not shy. It’s really great to have him on the floor. Our guys love him. Everybody on the bench was losing their mind. Kerr, I thought Kerr was going to, I don’t know. I thought he was going to start ripping his clothes o5. He was so excited. Listen, they are a really important part of our team. We are really blessed that we can have three freshmen that could play every minute of the game. I think Travis Perry has been really extraordinary and it’s hard to be a point guard for me.

Like it’s really hard to be a point guard for me. I don’t know if that’s exactly his natural position but he has come in here and if you think about it, his first time in the gym as a team we – what are we at? 32 and 5. That’s with TP playing, TP is playing 15 minutes at the point guard spot. That’s really impressive. Right? And so, I’m super proud of both those guys Collin Chandler was excellent tonight. He took a really step forward and he’s going to be a special player and those three freshmen are going to have a big impact on us this year and next year and it makes you feel good to have those three guys here and know that they are going to continue with this program.

Q Mark, in the back over here. Lamar Butler was all over the stat sheet tonight. What are the expectations for him from this game going forward?

MARK POPE: I expect him to have 6 steals every single night. I’ve never seen guys – I’m older than everybody in this room, I think. I heard one laugh. Someone laughed. Where is the old guy in here? Mitch is over here, hey now. But I’ve never seen this number. Lamont Butler had more steals than our whole team had turnovers tonight. I’ve never seen that, actually. That’s really incredible. He is a special player. I’ve never coached a guy like him on the defensive at the point of attack. Listen, I’m telling you, this Kennedy Miles is a terrific basketball player. Kennedy Miles is a terrific basketball player. He’s a championship team leading point guard. He’s a terrific basketball player. He didn’t have his best night tonight but Lamont Butler had a lot to do with that and it gets hard. At some point during the game, it was the right decision. Drew chose to work a lot of 4-5 ball screens because you had this Deion Sanders corner, like we are not throwing that side of the field anymore.

Forget it, we are just not going over there. That’s the type of impact that Lamont could have. He is incredibly special and I think you have heard me say 100 times. I think he is the best defensive perimeter player in college basketball and certainly the best defensive point guard and also a great leader. I thought he was terrific tonight and I thought he got our guys started well. One of the great things about Lamont is playing at San Diego State. We had to play them every year and the show, if you have not heard of it, San Diego State is pretty insane and so this environment is super familiar to him. He has played in the final four and national championship games and he’s pretty unphased. I’m telling you. It is a gift to have a player like that you can lean on as a coach. He is really special.

Q Mark, off-topic just a bit. When Lee Anne is not in the back yard killing moles. You talk about, you and her, this is a partnership. What does that mean to you? That you are a partnership in all of this?

MARK POPE: It means Lee Anne tells me what to do and I do it really – come on, man. I’m not shy about it. Lee Anne is the best part of me. I’m super blessed. You know, she’s my best friend. I’m madly in love with her. I still can’t believe that she takes the time to talk to me from time to time. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m super blessed. I’m really blessed. It’s just incredible. And she does tell me what to do. And I do it. It’s awesome. Okay. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you all. You have a great night.

#4, Koby Brea

On being back out there against outside competition…

“It felt good to play somebody else besides ourselves. It was a lot of fun just to see everybody compete and be in Rupp Arena for the first time playing a real game, and we are really happy with what we did out there. I think everybody took the right approach, and I feel like we did a really good job.”

On not being in the starting lineup and the level of cohesiveness with the team…

“I think everybody does a good job, taking what they are given, and trying to do the best with what they got. I feel like everybody did a great job accepting their role and trying to be the best at their role. I feel like we did a good job out there. Everybody meshed really well—which I’m not surprised about because I have seen it in practice—but to see it against outside competition was really good.”

On offense flowing, nothing seeming forced…

“It’s pretty easy when the other guys on the team can do everything that you can do too. I think we just have a lot of options, a lot of weapons, and everybody sticks to their strengths, plays together, and does what they do well. Everybody got to see that tonight.”

#9, Trent Noah

On how being in Rupp felt…

“It was awesome. I feel like it came full circle so, it’s been really cool. I got to play with my guys back home [Harlan] and now I get to play with my brothers here so it’s awesome.”

On being a part of Head Coach Mark Pope’s system…

“That’s what we do. I really credit Coach Pope and all the coaching staff. They instill confidence in us— and that’s what you need in a shooter— so it’s a fun brand of basketball. It’s fun when you can just go down and shoot threes freely and I feel like it’s fun to watch too, so it’s a win-win.”

On the team’s 32 assists…

“I feel like we were making plays for each other all night, and that’s what ultimately makes it fun. Whether you’re hitting threes or not, making plays for each other [is key]. We had countless times where we had passes for dunks and stuff like that so, whenever you’re playing for other people and our team, that’s what we preach about. It is cool to see it translate to the floor.”

#00, Otega Oweh

On not shooting a three-pointer…

“My game is really to get downhill. But I’m always ready to be open and, if you have an open shot, you take it.”

On playing in Rupp for the first time…

“It was amazing. Just the bright lights, the court, the fans cheering on everything. It’s just nice knowing you have a good fanbase that supports you.”

On improvements to take away from the game…

“I would say [we need to] just continue to sharpen ourselves on defense. We had a couple plays where we gave them some back doors, so we need to be active throughout the game.”

On the defense performance…

“It was huge. Everyone has a spark to hold their own. We’re great on the offensive end and the defensive end.”

And here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.

Team Records and Series Notes

• UK improved to 153-12 all-time in exhibition games, including 3-0 vs. Kentucky Wesleyan.
• UK led the series 8-2-1 when the teams played regular-season games.
• UK has won its last 32 exhibition games dating back to a win vs. Pikeville on Nov. 2, 2014.
• The Wildcats’ second and final exhibition is Tuesday, October 29, against Minnesota State Mankato. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be televised on SEC Network+.
• The Wildcats open the regular season Monday, Nov. 4, at home vs. Wright State. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be televised on ESPNU.

Team Notes

• Kentucky made 21 of 42 on three-point shots, 50 percent.
• Had this been a regular-season game, UK would have tied the school single-game record. The Wildcats made 21 of 48 against North Carolina on Dec. 27, 1989
• The Wildcats totaled 32 assists with only five turnovers.
• The 32 assists are only three short of the official school record of 35 vs. San Jose State on March 14, 1996.
• Eleven of the 12 players scored and 11 of the 12 had at least one assist.

Player Notes

• Eight Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Jaxson Robinson with 19 points.
• Lamont Butler had 11 points and led the Wildcats with six rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocked shots.
• Amari Williams tied Butler for game-high honors in assists with six, also added 11 points.

Coach Mark Pope

• UK is 1-0 in exhibition play under Mark Pope.
• Pope will enter the regular season with a career record of 187-108.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams.
• Koby Brea and Brandon Garrison were UK’s first substitutions at the 14:40 mark.
• Kentucky never trailed in this game. Carr and Oweh tallied layups for a 4-0 lead.
• After Kentucky Wesleyan tied it at 4, the Wildcats scored the next nine points and led the remainder of the way.
• Kentucky had runs of 14-0, 13-0 and 10-0 en route to a 60-24 halftime lead.
• Robinson and Oweh led the way with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky opened with the starting lineup.
• UK reached the century mark when Ansley Almonor hit a 3-pointer to make the score 100-44 with 6:25 remaining.