Mark Pope was minutes removed from learning Kentucky’s fate in the NCAA Tournament, CBS just wrapping up its Selection Show with the field of 68 finally revealed. It’d be the No. 3 seed Wildcats taking on the Trojans of the Sun Belt, Troy earning a No. 14 seed with tip-off scheduled for 7:10 PM ET on Friday.
His immediate reaction?
“I think it worked out pretty well,” Pope said. “I think it broke down pretty much the way we expected. I think there’s so much analysis now pre-bracket that it gets increasingly accurate.”
Troy finished the year 23-10 with a Sun Belt championship, defeating Arkansas State to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. Tayton Conerway is the team’s leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, followed by Myles Rigsby at 12.0 points and Thomas Dowd at 9.8.
The Trojans entered Selection Sunday as the No. 98 team in KenPom and No. 99 in the NET, coming in with zero Quad 1 victories and six combined Quad 3 and 4 losses.
What does Pope know about Kentucky’s next opponent — again, with zero research immediately following the bracket reveal, truly his first take on the Trojans? Surprisingly more than you’d expect.
Actually, is it even a surprise at this point? Pope knows his stuff.
“Well, I’ve seen them a little bit this year. They’re — I think they’re the No. 7 steals team in the country, they’re one of the top 20 or 30 offensive rebounding teams in the country, they’re an elite-level defensive team,” the Kentucky head coach said. “They’ve won a boatload of games this year. Scott Cross is a great coach who’s been doing this for a long time at a high level. I’ve got a ton of respect for him.”
Troy is in the field because it belongs in the field — just like everyone set to play in the coming days. When you get in as an automatic qualifier, your reward is an opportunity like this one.
Pope knows the Trojans will be ready, just as his team will be ready. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, right?
“I haven’t gotten into the nuts and bolts of them yet, but it’s a terrific team,” he said. “Every team in this tournament is so good. Look at the teams that didn’t get in, right?
“This is a big-time tournament. They’re all great teams.”
Koby Brea hasn’t done that level of research on his next opponent quite yet, but he’s got experience against the Trojans, interestingly enough.
