Mark Pope admitted he might not want to say it.
He knew Big Blue Nation might be ready to pounce.
But there is no switch to flip when it comes to the positivity of the new Kentucky head coach.
"I actually have more confidence in this team after the game than I did before," Pope said of the Wildcats' first loss of the season, a 70-66 setback on Tuesday night at Clemson in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
"I liked how our guys were willing to sell out in order to address the most important thing, and at halftime the most glaring problem we had was we were down 10 on the glass."
Even worse than the raw deficit in the rebound column, Kentucky trailed 10-1 in second-chance points. That was a big factor in Clemson turning a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead at halftime, and it may have been the key stretch of the game.
Pope liked how his team responded in the second half, fighting back to even in the rebound column at 44-44 and winning the second-chance points 13-10 despite falling just short on the scoreboard in a hard-fought game that came down to the final seconds.
"A lot of times in this game, we give lip service to things that need addressed, and then you kind of go through and don't really fix the problem because there are so many other things you get distracted by or focus on," Pope said. "I was really impressed in our guys. It was a massive point of emphasis, and our guys remedied it.
"We didn't play great, we didn't play well on the offensive side at all, but the guys in spite of that handled the most important thing of all. When you handle the most important thing, it bodes well for you, and I felt good about that."
Pope also downplayed the narrative that getting physical with the Wildcats is the key to beating them. All of these veteran players have been in more physical games than the one they experienced at Clemson, he noted. It's about execution.
"I liked the response when we cranked out the film," he said. "We had a bunch of guys who were curious and eager to get better, not feeling sorry for themselves or upset or distracted."
No. 4 Kentucky (7-1) has another big test in front of it this weekend as the Cats travel to Seattle to face No. 7 Gonzaga (7-1).
"A Final Four-type team," Pope said of the Bulldogs.
Mark Few's squad has a lot of similarities to the Clemson team that UK just faced, Pope noted, although the Bulldogs will definitely look to play at a higher tempo than the Tigers preferred on Tuesday.
"They've got a really distinctive style. They know exactly who they are," Pope said. "You can almost take the names off the jerseys and you would know if you were watching a Gonzaga team by the way they play."
The Bulldogs are No. 2 in Ken Pomeroy's offensive efficiency ratings (UK No. 13) and have scored 88 or more points five times this season.
