Kentucky dropped its third consecutive game Saturday in a 75-74 loss at Auburn, and it came in controversial fashion. Coach Mark Pope was audibly frustrated with the officials who whistled the Wildcats for a pivotal foul which set up a game-winning bucket for Auburn’s Elyjah Freeman. After dancing around criticism of the officials during his postgame media availability, Pope could be heard on a hot mic laying into the SEC and the crew that called the contest.
“If those mother-effers try to fine me, screw ’em,” Pope said after he left the media room. “I did not say a word about how they cheated us.”
Pope’s frustration stemmed from a critical call with 14.3 seconds to play. Leading by a point, the Wildcats inbounded from underneath their own basket when a whistle blew the play dead. Officials called Collin Chandler for an offensive foul when he shoved Auburn’s Kevin Overton to the floor to gain separation. While Chandler clearly extended both arms on the shove, Pope was bewildered by the call.
In Kentucky’s defense, there was mutual contact between the players. Overton wrapped one of his arms around Chandler’s back before the push-off for what could have been called a holding foul.
Before his comments on the hot mic, Pope addressed the situation with care not to place direct blame on the officials.
“We’re not allowed to talk about the referees, but you guys saw it, and I think sometimes it’s just super personal,” Pope said. “I’m not allowed to comment on the referees. I won’t comment on the referees. It’s unfortunate. It didn’t cost us the game. We’re in control of the game, so we’ll find ways to go win.”
The foul turned the ball over to Auburn, which scored a game-winning basket on the ensuing possession. KeShawn Murphy missed a close-range shot, but Freeman flew in for the rebound and tipped in a putback with 1.1 seconds remaining, pushing the Tigers on top by a point.
“We refuse to give control to people that are outside of our program,” Pope said. “Refuse. Regardless of how personal it might get or how bad it might get. We refuse to give control to fans, to give control to anybody else associated with this game, regardless of how blatantly people are trying to make this not happen.
“We’re not giving away our power. We’re not. We don’t make excuses. We don’t do that regardless of what is happening, regardless of how disgraceful things are. We don’t give away our power regardless of how embarrassing, personal, awful, unacceptable things are. We refuse to give away our power.”
Every loss for Kentucky adds to the disappointment of what initially projected to be a national championship-contending season. The Wildcats slipped to 17-10 with the defeat and are a projected No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per CBS Sports bracketology.
