The Kentucky Wildcats bounced back in a huge way on Saturday when they picked up a signature win over No. 15 Arkansas on the road. It came after a game that, once again, saw the Wildcats come out very slow, leading them fall behind quickly as they never were able to come close to making the comeback. But, Saturday’s game was different.

Mark Pope has been searching over the last week to change up Kentucky’s pregame routine. After the win over Arkansas, Pope confirmed that they did in fact change up their normal routine in practice leading up to the game.

“They changed some of our routine. In practice, the last two days, we had a huge emphasis on the first four, six minutes of a scrimmage each day,” Pope said on Saturday following Kentucky’s eight-point win against Arkansas. “And the guys really worked. It’s hard in practice to simulate the intensity of game, but these guys really tried to do that. It really came from our team and our staff of figuring out a better way to approach this. And it doesn’t guarantee that we’re not gonna have slow starts, but it certainly was credit to our guys for being ready to go from the tip tonight, I thought they were terrific.”

On Monday night, Pope went much more in-depth about what exactly the Wildcats changed up in their usual routine before games, specifically for road games. Kentucky’s pregame routine was altered and it paid off.

“We actually changed up our pregame (routine). We rolled into town and we always go quote-unquote smell the gym the night before. We didn’t do that just to simplify the schedule,” Pope said on his radio show Monday night. “We shortened our hour-long pregame on-court prep and consolidated that where we went from, you know, really coming back in the locker room for two minutes to one. What kind of bearing that had on the way our guys started, I’m not sure if it’s too small a sample size to know, but, you know, we’ll take the outcome for sure.”

Pope says you have to be cautious with change, but with the situation Kentucky has been in, this type of change may be an exception, because it seemed to work for his team on Saturday.

“I think you have to be cautious with change, certainly, because you don’t want change to become the norm, right? You want to have routine, like routine actually helps athletes perform at a higher level. But I do think sometimes change for the sake of change in the right way can add focus and help you be more intentional about the the the issues you’re trying to address. And so somewhere in there, certainly our guys found a way that to come out, you know, with all the folks in the world, because, because their focus and their physicality in the first five minutes of this game was elite on the road in a really, really hostile environment.”

“I’m proud of, proud of how the guys responded. We do have a group that seems to when their backs are to the wall, either because of situation or because of their own missteps,” Pope went on to say about his team. “They sure have responded in a brilliant way for most of the season.”

More Kentucky basketball news

A long-idle Century Aluminum smelter in Hancock County will be redeveloped into a data center campus, the company said Feb. 2, announcing the sale of more than 700 acres of industrial land along the Ohio River.

Century halted production at the smelter in 2022, citing “skyrocketing energy costs,” and originally said the curtailment would last only nine to 12 months. More than 600 people worked at the plant, and many received notices of temporary layoff at the time. Century continues to operate a smelter in Henderson County, near Sebree.

Century will receive $200 million and retain a small equity stake in the company developing the data center project, according to federal filings. The aluminum company had hinted at its search for a buyer for the Hancock County property in previous earnings calls, pointing to the site’s preexisting access to utilities and infrastructure.

“We are very pleased to see the Hawesville site transition to productive use that will benefit Hawesville and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Jesse Gary, president and CEO of Century Aluminum. “Our agreement allows us to remain connected to the project and supportive of the community as the site is redeveloped.”