Mark Pope has been adamant about utilizing a deep bench. Whether that’s a winning strategy or not has come into question this season, but he elected to tighten things up down the stretch of a must-win game for Kentucky — and it ended up working in the Wildcats’ favor.
Pope went with a shortened rotation in Kentucky’s 72-60 win over Indiana on Saturday in Rupp Arena, particularly after halftime. Seven Wildcats still played 20 or more minutes, but the other three who took the floor received 16 minutes or fewer. Collin Chandler and Trent Noah both started the game but ended it with just 16 and 11 minutes played, respectively.