There was something about Coach Cal and Arkansas winning that first game against Bill Self and Kansas the day before, too, creating this one-upmanship race as Mark Pope still hadn’t gotten that March Madness monkey off his back quite yet.

In his first season on the job, Mark Pope leads the Kentucky Wildcats back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years. Koby Brea was the offensive star of the night.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has put together an impressive debut season at the program after inheriting a team that had zero returning scholarship players following John Calipari's departure to Arkansas.