KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE Q&A:
* A lot of respect for Missouri coach Dennis Gates. Likes the way he approaches the game, respects the game. Says the turnaround he's done with the Tigers is extraordinary. One of the big stories of the season.
* Jaxson Robinson had his surgery. Went well. They'll see how he feels before determining whether he'll travel with them just to be there with his teammates.
* Kerr Kriisa just never reached the benchmarks he needed to reach to have a chance to get back this season.
* Season flies by so fast. Too fast. It's been an epic, dramatic, wonderful, sometimes painful journey.
* Everyday moving forward seems to be an improvement for Lamont Butler.
* Mizzou is really strong offensively. Almost 22% of Missouri's possessions are in transition. Pretty prolific there. Dangerous shooters, perimeter players. They'll come back and attack things they want to attack over and over and over again. Kinda similar to us in spacing.
* It's March... this is the best. There's really no difference in the players and coaches and fans. Everyone is excited. Pope thinks the team may even be more excited than the fans.
* One thing he loves about his young guys is they're unafraid of failing. When we fail, we want to fail fast and learn from it. Loved the way Collin Chandler played against LSU, even one shot that may have been a bit questionable. He was feeling it. Right or wrong, he was going for it.
* On the importance of SECT coming up... It's time to win. The end goal here is to raise that trophy. The SEC Tournament matters, especially this year when the conference may be better than ever.
* This will be our third straight game with the same unit on the floor. There is some comfort in knowing that right now.
* On Ansley Almonor getting back in the groove... His numbers are insane if you look at the percentages. Rarified air. Should be confident because of that. He's one of the elite shot-makers in all of college basketball. And he's desperate for this team to be together a little longer. I think he's got big stuff in store this next month. It's going to be exciting.
* Lamont coming back makes a massive difference for us. Defense has gotten so much better down the stretch.
