Mark Story: Suffice to say, Kentucky basketball getting smoked by Kansas was not what Mark Pope needed

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader on Nov 12, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky fans have always put great stock in how the Wildcats perform on the biggest stages and against men’s college basketball’s other blue bloods.

So what happened to UK on Tuesday night against Kansas under the bright lights of the State Farm Champions Classic was pretty close to the last thing Mark Pope needed as he tries to pacify a restive fan base.

“It was an incredibly frustrating night for us,” Pope said.

It was every bit that.

Getting 30 points from former Louisville Cardinal Tre White and a double-double (23 points and 10 rebounds) from Louisville native Tyran Stokes, No. 15 Kansas shellacked No. 24 Kentucky 89-69 before 18,891 at the United Center.

The Champions Classic, designed to be an early-season men’s college hoops showcase, is becoming an annual nightmare for Kentucky.

The Wildcats have now lost eight of their past 10 games in the annual double-header in which Duke, Kansas and Michigan State alternate as UK’s opponents.

After giving Kentucky fans a sweet Champions Classic moment with a 77-72 upset of No. 6 Duke in his first season, Pope has seen his past two teams outscored by a combined 37 points while losing to Michigan State 83-66 last year and the Jayhawks Tuesday night.

In the head-to-head between UK and KU, Kansas has now won three straight and seven of the last nine.

When Bill Self was hired by KU, the Jayhwaks’ all-time record against Kentucky was 3-19. In Chicago, Self recorded his 10th victory against Kentucky, raising his mark vs. UK to 10-6 overall and 10-5 as Kansas coach.

“That’s one that I would have never thought of, but I’ll put that on my tombstone at some point in time,” Self said of his success flipping the competitive arc of the Kansas-Kentucky series.

As for UK, it is foolish to draw lasting conclusions about a college basketball team from a game played Nov. 10.

Still, there were multiple worrisome developments for the Wildcats on Tuesday night in the Windy City.

Kentucky was outscored 22-0 in points off of 16 turnovers. UK, a team whose top three guards are all point guards, got only three assists vs. seven turnovers from that trio.

“This is a great example of our guards being so sped up to get downhill, that they weren’t getting driving lines,” Pope said.

It was concerning that UK could not get Milan Momcilovic, the nation’s leading 3-point shooter last season for Iowa State, open looks.

Momcilovic took only seven shots, three from behind the arc. The only 3-pointer he hit was a fall away from the deep corner with the hand of a Kansas defender in his face.

Because UK runs so much of its offense through center Malachi Moreno, Pope said the two early fouls that sent the former Great Crossing High School star to the bench before the game’s first television timeout disrupted Kentucky’s ability to get Momcilovic clean looks.

Momcilovic’s lack of shots came “from a lot of different places,” Pope said. “You know, from a coaching perspective, we got to be more creative and find ways to get in plays (for him). We worked so much through our front line, and Malachi being in and out (due to fouls) was complicated for us.”

For those UK backers who have been frustrated with the level of Kentucky’s recruiting in the post-John Calipari era, the fact that Kansas started two lavishly-hyped freshman who were both born in the commonwealth — and who UK wooed and failed to land — must have been galling.

Louisville native Stokes said facing Kentucky “was personal for sure. For me, just growing up, I kind of was a UNC/Louisville fan,” he said. “A lot of my family, you know, either likes Louisville or Kentucky, but I was on the Louisville side. So growing up, obviously, you know the tradition and the rivalry between Louisville and Kentucky. So, being from Louisville, I kind of still got that same emotion as if I was playing for Louisville.”

Taylen Kinney started a point guard for Kansas. Though the 6-3 Kinney did not shoot well (1 of 9 field goals) against UK, he doled out eight assists.

“We talked about this game when I committed (to Kansas),” Stokes said of Kinney. “We already knew we were going to end up playing Kentucky (in the Champions Classic), so I mean, obviously he had the same emotion being from Newport.”

The good thing for Kentucky is that the Wildcats still have multiple marquee games ahead on their non-league schedule.

The Cats will face Indiana (Nov. 20 at Lucas Oil Stadium), play at Virginia (Dec. 2 in ACC/SEC Challenge), face intrastate rival Louisville (Dec. 12 at Rupp Arena) and North Carolina (Dec. 19 in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Suffice to say, with the Big Blue Nation nearing a state of desperation in their longing for Kentucky basketball to recapture its historic majesty, Pope’s standing with his team’s fan base would be boosted immeasurably by stringing together some “W’s” on these upcoming big stages.

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