Mark Pope left BYU 10 months ago to return to his alma mater Kentucky, where he plied his craft at the direction of legendary coach Rick Pitino. Now, as head coach roaming the sidelines of Rupp Arena, that leap of faith is paying off big time.

Before Mark Pope’s first visit to Memorial Gym as Kentucky’s coach, he strolled down memory lane to recall some funny moments from road games as a player.

As No. 9 Kentucky prepares to take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium this Saturday, Mark Pope is gearing up for his first visit back to the iconic venue since his days as a Wildcat.

After defeating No. 14 Mississippi State and losing at No. 1 Auburn last week, the Volunteers are taxed this week with home games against No. 12 Kentucky and No. 5 Florida. Tennessee is No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll, dropping two spots after Saturday night's 53-51 setback against Bruce Pearl's Tigers.

Kentucky's Mark Pope started his coaching career at Rupp Arena with 11 straight wins. How does that start compare to other first-year UK coaches?

LEXINGTON — Normally jovial and verbose during postgame news conferences, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope struck a different tone after last week's game against Alabama at Rupp Arena.

The No. 8 Vols will host the No. 12 Wildcats on Tuesday, but this matchup is different from years past. For the first time in 15 years, John Calipari will

LEXINGTON — John Calipari and Rick Pitino aren't just the two most well-known ex-Kentucky ... Kentucky's most recent leader prior to Mark Pope, former coach John Calipari guided the program for 15 seasons. He left as the school's second-winningest ...

A sophomore, part-time starter, Wilcher is averaging three triples per game and shooting 30.5 percent from distance.

No. 6 Kentucky won at No. 14 Mississippi State ( 95-90). Dropped to No. 8 due to a loss at Georgia the prior week, UK then came home to beat No. 11 Texas A&M (81-69) but lost 102-97 to No. 4 Alabama.

By Keith Taylor Kentucky Today It’s been a good week for Kentucky to get healthy again. The No. 9 Wildcats took advantage of a rare week off to heal up for the rest of the season. Kentucky coach Mark Pope said the Wildcats (14-4,

The gesture by the Kentucky coach drew praise from all circles, including Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey, who typed the words, “Love your neighbor” on a retweet of the video of Pope talking with the fan in the wheelchair. “Great stuff,” Kelsey said.