Pope, Wildcats seeking first true road win of season at Mississippi State

LEXINGTON (KT) — No. 6 Kentucky has yet to win a true road game this season, and the Wildcats hope to end the trend Saturday at Mississippi State.

Two of the Wildcats’ three losses have been on the road — at Clemson and Georgia — and the third setback was against Ohio State at Madison Square Garden.

Wildcats coach Mark Pope can’t pinpoint a consistent trend in the three setbacks but added lessons from the losses have been beneficial. Kentucky (12-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) is coming off an 82-69 loss to Georgia earlier this week.

“We love trends as coaches,” he said this week. “You love trends because trends are easy to attack (and) there have been some trends in those three losses. But the trends get a little (murkier) when you include the wins because some of the same things that happen in the wins. ... We love those and we also love taking things, tangible things, that we're doing well through through through wins and losses, too, that we need to hold on to.”

The Bulldogs (14-1, 2-0 SEC) are off to their best start since the 2003-04 season. Mississippi State defeated South Carolina and Vanderbilt to open the conference portion of the schedule.

“They’re good — oof, they’re good,” Pope said. They’re really good. You just clip and paste that onto the next game, too, whatever team we have. This team is really, really talented.”

What makes the Bulldogs good? Pope cited “elite” playmaker Josh Hubbard, a point guard who scored 34 points in a loss to the Wildcats last season.

“He is a real talent,” Pope said. “He's been doing it for a while. He's really, really dangerous.”

Pope also said forward Cameron Matthews will be a player to watch in the post, who Pope added is a “unique piece for them.”

“(He has) a Draymond Green vibe,” Pope said. “He's a really terrific creative passer. He's got an unbelievable sense of space and time away from the ball. You see cutters and he can pass off the ball. He can be really aggressive to the rim. He plays like a really, really big point guard.”

Overall, Pope said overcoming the Bulldogs, who carry an eight-game winning streak into the contest, won’t be an easy task.

“They're really aggressive and they're a high turnover-forcing team,” Pope said. “They're really aggressive on the glass and a top 30 team on the offensive glass. It's kind of the bio of everybody in the SEC. I know coach (Chris) Jans really well. He's a terrific coach. He's done a great job. It'll be in a venue that's going to be a terrific spirited venue. It’ll be a great challenge for us.”

LASTING MEMORY

Pope doesn’t remember much about Mississippi State but hasn’t forgotten Erick Dampier, Dontae Jones and the Wildcats’ 84-73 loss to the Bulldogs in the 1996 SEC Tournament finale.

“The stories I tell are from the SEC championship when we lost to Mississippi State (in 1996),” said Pope. “That's how you build a season.”

Both teams were in the Final Four that season and Pope added the competition between the two teams that year is what makes college basketball special.

“That's why this game is so beautiful,” Pope said. “When you do it right and when you're built the right way.”

NEXT GAME: Kentucky at Mississippi State, 8:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network.