Kentucky

Mark Pope thinks Kentucky's issues in losses are fixable: “It's not triage”

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Mark Pope thinks Kentucky's issues in losses are fixable: “It's not triage”

Kentucky’s loss to Georgia felt like deja vu in that the issues that plagued the Cats vs. Ohio State and Clemson came roaring back. Once again, Kentucky let a physical team bully them around, turned the ball over too often, and didn’t create enough shots. Even though it feels like the blueprint to beat Kentucky is laminated after Tuesday night, Mark Pope believes all of those issues are fixable, even in the short term.

“Listen, it’s not triage where we have a bad team,” Pope said today. “We have a really good team. We didn’t play particularly well and so there’s a lot of things that were a little bit anomalous, where we just didn’t play great. And certainly, Georgia had some contribution to that.”

Ahead of his team’s trip to No. 14 Mississippi State, which is even more physical and talented than Georgia, Pope outlined two areas of focus: rebounding and ball protection. Georgia outrebounded Kentucky 41-34 on Tuesday, the fourth game in a row the Cats have lost the battle of the boards. On Saturday, they’ll face a Mississippi State team that ranks just outside the top 30 nationally in offensive rebounding rate (35.9%).

“We’re continuing to work on the glass right now. That’s been something interesting because we had been one of the top defensive rebounding percentage teams in the country, and that’s kind of bit us, a little bit. And so we’re rethinking some approaches there that hopefully will see immediate progress on, because we’ve been really good, right? We’ve just got to be good in this league right now, with the physicality and the way this is being played.”

Pope seemed less concerned about the 14 turnovers the Cats committed vs. Georgia. Kentucky still ranks No. 3 in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94), but that number would be a lot higher if not for their losses.

“We’ve been really good in terms of ball protection. I think we’ve been number one in the country. I think we’re close so I don’t think it’s reinventing the wheel for us on the ball protection side. We just didn’t do it well in this game.”

“So, there are certainly areas that we’re going to continue to grow and fine-tune, but there’s not a lot of total restructuring going on.”

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All season, Pope has talked about the importance of getting his guys not to default to bad habits. The Georgia loss showed that’s still a work in progress. After the game, Pope talked about how distracted his guys seemed on the floor, whether it be from the crowd, the whistles, a shot not going in, etc. Getting them to tune that out and lock in on each other will be what determines how far they go this season.

“Our guys trust and believe in each other, but when you start talking about trust and belief in where you go for answers, that’s a process that everybody is trying to find. It’s not a matter of not being able to find it. I mean, our guys have found it a lot this season. Like there’s been a whole lot of trust and faith on this team, where we’ve gone to the well, the right well, to find answers in the biggest games that have been played all season, right? But being able to get there every single time is part of the challenge, right? At the end of the year, it’s, can you get there six straight games? Can you go to the right space with all the different distractions, different vibes? Can you keep going right to the same place and keep trusting over and over and over again?

“And so that’s kind of the space we’re living in right now, is, how consistently can we be in the right spot on the floor? How consistently can our faith be placed in the right space? How consistently can we tune out all the distractions that happen around the game and kind of be locked in just to the moment? We’re fully capable. We’ve done it. We’ve done it at the highest level. We’ve done it pretty consistently. But now can we do it every time?”

When it comes to being more physical, Pope said that’s something everyone in the SEC is striving for right now. He just wants his team to understand how to do it and when to do it.

“The game always gets more and more physical in the league, and so our guys understanding — and there’s also a part of understanding where you can be really, really physical and where you can’t, right? And that’s part of our determinations. There are a lot of facets to that. One is just the physics aspect of it, of having a low center of gravity and kind of being the hit-first guy and a first hit and second, there’s all the schematics and the skill of it.

“And then there’s also the mentality of it, and the IQ of it. The mentality of it is kind of this aggression side of it where you’re always thinking about contact, contact, contact, and then the IQ of it is understanding when and where it’s appropriate and where it can be utilized and where it’s important.”

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Kentucky

Kentucky AG: Kroger ‘allowed the fire of addiction to spread,’ announces $110M settlement

Published

15 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky AG: Kroger ‘allowed the fire of addiction to spread,’ announces 0M settlement

COVINGTON, Ky. ‒ Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Thursday a $110 million settlement with Cincinnati-based Kroger in his lawsuit against the grocer for its role in the opioid crisis.

Speaking at a press conference event at the Life Learning Center across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky, Coleman said Kroger fueled the opioid epidemic by prescribing the drugs with “shockingly” little oversight or means of reporting suspicious activity.

“(They) allowed the fire of addiction to spread,” Coleman said.

Kroger did not have an immediate response.

Why Kentucky sued Kroger

His office said the agreement is one of the largest opioid settlements in recent Kentucky history and ends one of his major lawsuits launched in 2024.

Last year, Coleman sued Kroger and pharmacy benefits managers Express Scripts and Optum Rx in separate lawsuits for their roles in Kentucky’s opioid epidemic.

Kroger is a $150 billion retailer with a pharmacy business that accounts for $14.3 billion of its annual revenues. Express Scripts is a subsidiary of Connecticutt-based health company Cigna Group. Optum is part of Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group.

Coleman, a Republican, took office last year after being elected in 2023.

The Enquirer will update this story

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Kentucky

Kentucky Lottery Cash Ball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Jan. 8, 2025

Published

23 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky Lottery Cash Ball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Jan. 8, 2025

The Kentucky Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 winning numbers for each game

Cash Ball

03-04-15-34, Cash Ball: 24

Check Cash Ball payouts and previous drawings here.

Lucky For Life

13-14-24-37-38, Lucky Ball: 13

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 3

Evening: 8-0-6

Midday: 9-8-2

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 4

Evening: 3-5-9-9

Midday: 8-3-3-2

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Powerball

01-20-36-38-43, Powerball: 24, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Powerball Double Play

22-29-36-61-65, Powerball: 17

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Courier Journal digital producer. You can send feedback using this form.

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Kentucky

Mark Pope recaps Kentucky vs. Georgia, plus postgame notes

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

Mark Pope recaps Kentucky vs. Georgia, plus postgame notes

The Kentucky Wildcats took another tough loss on the road and now stand at 0-2 in true road games after falling to the Georgia Bulldogs, 82-69.

The Cats also struggled to score, managing only 69 points and seeing only three players in double figures after putting up 106 against a top-10 Florida team and having six players with 14 or more points. Kentucky also shot just 27% from 3-point range, making it hard to win in any venue for a team that relies so heavily on shooting from deep.

Georgia’s increased physicality added to Kentucky’s troubles, with foul trouble being a constant issue throughout the game for the Cats. They were outrebounded 43-34.

Despite being 3-0 against top-10 teams this season, Kentucky now has three unranked losses. They’ll have a chance to bounce back as they travel to No. 14 Mississippi State, aiming for their first road win of the season.

And here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.

Team Records and Series Notes

Kentucky is now 12-3, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia is 13-2 overall, 1-1 in league play.
Kentucky leads the series 132-29, including 44-20 in Athens.
Mark Pope is 199-111 as head coach, including 12-3 at Kentucky.
Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats stay on the road Saturday at Mississippi State. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. in Starkville) and it will be televised on the SEC Network.

Team Notes

Kentucky made 15 of 19 free throws (78.9 percent), the fourth straight game the Wildcats have made at least 75 percent at the foul line.

Player Notes

Lamont Butler led the Wildcats with 20 points, his eighth double-figure game of the season and second game with at least 20.
He also had a season-high four steals, his third straight game with at least three thefts.
Playing a season-high 27 minutes, Brandon Garrison had a season-high 13 points and collected five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Otega Oweh had 12 points and has scored in double figures in every game this season. He also led UK in rebounds with seven, the first time this season he has paced the Wildcats in the boardwork.

In the First Half

Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. UK has a 10-3 record with this lineup.
Koby Brea and Travis Perry were the first substitutions at 16:18.
Kentucky was ahead 23-19 but Georgia closed the half with a 28-11 run and took a 47-34 lead into the locker room. UK is 2-3 this season when trailing at halftime.

In the Second Half

Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
The Wildcats chipped away, cutting the margin to 55-50, coaxing a Georgia timeout at 12:02.
Kentucky got no closer as Georgia held steady for the win.

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