Five games into league play, Kentucky has a foul problem.

The No. 9 Wildcats are committing far too many of them in SEC games and are not drawing many of their own, leading to a major free-throw discrepancy.

On Monday during his weekly radio call-in show, UK head coach Mark Pope said the staff has spent “an insane amount of time” trying to find solutions.

“We’ve gone back and tried to categorize every type of foul that’s been called on us over the last five games, and we’re seeing some trends where we can really, really aggressively attack and make some strides,” Pope said.

The UK staff has a good opportunity to make adjustments this week as the Cats have an “open date” of sorts with no mid-week game. Their next game will come Saturday at Vanderbilt.

“As we did a sweeping review, kind of with video and analytics on the fouls, we found some trends that are really important,” Pope said. “I’m not going to talk about those publicly because I’m sure that Vanderbilt is watching right now. (laughs) But it has given us some real direction, and I think there’s a good chance that we have a chance to make some massive improvements.”

Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) boasts the No. 2 offense in the nation at 89.2 points per game and also ranks second in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive efficiency rankings, but the Cats are doing it without the benefit of the so-called “charity stripe.”

Pope’s squad currently ranks No. 151 nationally in FTA/FGA rate. That also puts them eighth in the new 16-team SEC.

Even more alarming is the staggering pace that league rivals are parading to the line. Kentucky ranks last in FTA/FGA defensive rate during conference play. In their two losses, the Cats have watched as Georgia and Alabama combined to shoot 72 free throws while they attempted only 39.

Overall, SEC opponents have attempted 150 free throws to Kentucky’s 113.

The shortcoming has contributed to UK losing two games in which it made more baskets than the opponent. In the case of Saturday’s 102-97 loss to the No. 4 Crimson Tide, the Cats won almost every statistical column with the exception of trips to the line.

Pope, who is in his first season at Kentucky after spending the last five at BYU in the Big 12 and West Coast Conference, says it has taken some time to adjust to the way games are called in the rugged SEC.

“You talk about learning this league and learning the whistle,” he said. “That’s a genuine thing. There are times when, internally and externally, I lose my mind with some of the officiating, but the truth is that usually, when you go back and watch the film, the officiating may not be what you’re used to or how you would correlate things with the book, but there is some things in the consistency of the officiating that, while it may be surprising to us, it’s teaching us a lot.”

Adam Guthrie is one of the nation’s best offensive linemen in the country — and Kentucky is firmly in the mix to land his talents.

Ranked by On3 as the No. 37 overall prospect from the 2026 class, Guthrie received a visit from a pair of Wildcat coaches on Monday: associate head coach Vince Marrow and offensive line coach Eric Wolford. The four-star offensive tackle out of Washington Court House (OH) Miami Trace has been recruited by Kentucky since he was extended a scholarship offer all the way back in Oct. 2023.

Guthrie, who doubles as a basketball player, clocks in at 6-foot-7, 300 pounds. He is considered the seventh-best offensive lineman in his cycle.

Guthrie is already up to 40-plus Division I offers, but Kentucky was actually the third school to reach out with a scholarship. He visited Lexington back in September when the Wildcats hosted top-ranked Georgia in a tight 13-12 loss. His stock began to blow up from there. Guthrie earned offers from the likes of Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Ole Miss, Michigan, and many more during his fall high school season. The Buckeyes and Tigers are schools to monitor.

While visiting Guthrie, Marrow also offered one of his high school teammates. 2027 running back Julian Baker announced a scholarship from the ‘Cats, his seventh from a DI school.

Photo:

Ben Breland / Eclipse Sportswire

The winner and runner-up from Saturday’s Grade 3 Lecomte joined the top 10 in the points standings for Kentucky Derby 2025.

Disco Time brought his record to 3-for-3 with his win by a neck over Built over the muddy Fair Grounds track to earn 20 points and move into third place. Built, who already had earned 10 points for his win in the Gun Runner, picked up another 10 to move into fourth place.

The third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers got their first qualifying points. Innovator earned 6 points, good for 18th place. Golden Afternoon is in 28th place with 4 points, and Maximus Promise earned 2 points, putting him at no. 44.

One points prep is on the calendar for this weekend. The Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn drew a field of 10, with Gaming, fifth on the leaderboard, drawing the rail.

The following weekend brings four preps, the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream, the Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita and the Withers (G3) at Aqueduct. All three, along with the Southwest, offer 20-10-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers.