Mark Pope makes his feelings known on Jaxson Robinson's impressive game for Kentucky vs Texas A&M
Kentucky Wildcats senior Jaxson Robinson just had his second-highest scoring output of the 2024-2025 season in an 81-69 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.
Playing 34 minutes in total, the fifth-year guard posted 22 points, which included five makes from beyond the arc, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal to lead the Mark Pope-coached squad to victory.
Much to Robinson, Pope and the rest of the Wildcats' delight, this is their third triumph in the SEC as they now hold a 3-1 record. During the postgame press conference, Pope shared his thoughts on yet another remarkable outing from his graduating standout, who led the team in scoring.
"The best thing for Jaxson is he missed his first three [field goals], four maybe give or take, and it's just fun to see growth. You miss your first three or four shots, you start evaluating if you're a having a night or not and he didn't. So, he turns a slow start into a night where he's pretty productive," Pope said.
Along with commending Robinson's offensive performance, the tactician also acknowledged the strides his veteran player has shown on defense and in contributing to the rebounding department.
"He's been consistently great on the defensive end. He's been consistently trying to grow his game on the toughness end. For him to be in this particular game, the way this thing rolls, and do what he did on the glass, one offensive and seven defensive [rebounds], is massive," Pope added.
With the way things have been going for Robinson recently, he can attest to the fact that his recent play has turned Kentucky into a much stronger team and his coach couldn't have been prouder of him. Hopefully, this can turn out into more success for the Wildcats who are playing in their first year under the tutelage of Pope.
The No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats will go up against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide next on Jan. 18, on their home floor.
Mark Pope is getting more versatile production from his guards
Later on in the presser, Mark Pope expressed how delighted he was to receive more production on both ends of the floor from his perimeter players. He said that this is a matter he has discussed previously with his squad:
"One of the things we were talking about is our guards making a bigger impact. Otega [Oweh] had eight [rebounds] last game, Jaxson had seven [defensive boards] this game. That is a massive difference-maker for us on the glass."
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For the campaign, both Oweh and Robinson are leading the backcourt charge for the Wildcats, averaging 15.6 and 12.6 markers, respectively. But, it is their hustle in other areas such as on-ball defense and securing the basketball that has made Kentucky a force to be reckoned with recently as they look to earn win No. 15 overall on Saturday.