Saturday Headlines: Kentucky Basketball’s Season Ends

The Kentucky Wildcats saw their season come to an end on Friday night when they fell to the Tennessee Volunteers, 78-65.

The loss was the first Kentucky had suffered against Tennessee this season, with the Wildcats sweeping the regular season series earlier this year.

Kentucky’s exit from the NCAA Tournament was of course before the Final Four and therefore a bit earlier than UK fans had hoped.

However, don’t let a rather ugly Sweet 16 loss to the Rival Volunteers cover up the fact that Mark Pope and his Wildcats had quite the season during his first year as head coach.

Kentucky put together wins over Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Louisville, and Tennessee (twice), all before the regular season was over. They did this with virtually ALL new players, quickly pieced together by Pope and his staff after taking the UK coaching job last April.

While several of those new faces played their last college basketball game on Friday night, there are a few who will likely be returning for another season under Pope. Kentucky has plenty of resources to recruit well in the transfer portal and also has their incoming recruiting class.

It’s fair to say an NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee stings, but mostly everything about this season had positives regarding Pope and his capability to lead the Kentucky basketball program.

The Wildcats finish the year 24-12 (including postseason play) in a loaded Southeastern Conference. Their two NCAA Tournament wins were the most the program had achieved in six seasons.

All signs point to a strong for Kentucky basketball, with Pope leading the charge.

Tweet of the Day

Mark Pope said his first team set a really high standard for the Kentucky program on and off the court.

“We will be talking about these guys 10 years from now as the guys that came in here and set a standard of what this is supposed to be.” pic.twitter.com/6JDuOdggY7

— Lee K. Howard ☀️ (@HowardWKYT) March 29, 2025