Utah Valley was supposed to be a buy game—another early-season tune-up on Kentucky’s road to March. But on November 10, 2017, someone forgot to tell Mark Pope that.
Pope, a former Wildcat himself and then head coach of Utah Valley, came into Rupp Arena with a team full of confidence and zero expectations. Preseason No. 5 Kentucky—coached by John Calipari and loaded with freshmen like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Knox, and Hamidou Diallo—was expected to run the Wolverines out of the building. Instead, Pope’s squad landed the first punch.
With 6:24 left in the first half, Gilgeous-Alexander calmly sank two free throws to give Kentucky a 23-18 lead.