Kentucky's Mark Pope caught on hot mic blasting SEC officials

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball head coach Mark Pope had no chill Saturday night after a hot mic captured his remarks following his team’s 75-74 loss to Auburn. 

Auburn snapped a five-game losing streak with the victory, scoring the final four points of the game, including a putback basket with 1.2 seconds remaining. 

The Wildcats (17-10) were whistled for 19 fouls in a contest that featured 33 combined infractions. The most pivotal came with 14 seconds left, when Kentucky’s Collin Chandler was called for a foul while attempting to inbound the ball after Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford had trimmed the lead to 74-73 with two free throws.

Kentucky led 39-35 at halftime before being outscored 40-35 over the final 20 minutes. This was a third straight loss for the Wildcats. 

In his postgame press conference, Pope stopped short of criticizing officials directly.

“I’m not allowed to comment on the referees, I won’t comment on the referees,” Pope said. “We don’t make excuses. Regardless of what is happening, regardless of how disgraceful things are, we don’t give away our power.”

More: Michigan-Duke ticket prices set a Washington DC record for sporting event

Right after he stepped away from the podium, mics in the press room picked up Pope addressing to UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

“Mitch, if those f------ try to fine me, screw ’em,” Pope said. “I did not say a word about how they cheated us.”

Auburn improved to 15-12 as it looks to build momentum entering the regular season’s final stretch.

More college basketball news:

• Adrian Autry buyout, contract details as Syracuse Orange coach
• Bruce Pearl sends warning to NBA teams about Kansas' Darryn Peterson
• AJ Dybantsa makes college basketball history never done by NBA stars
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Texas Tech's March Madness hopes take major hit with JT Toppin injury