Mark Pope made his way down to the postgame press conference room in Madison Square Garden nearly an hour after No. 17 Michigan State blew out the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats in the State Farm Champions Classic.

Pope sat in front of the media with nothing but sorrow on his face and disappointment in his voice, easily the most emotional version of the second-year head coach that we’ve seen to date.

Kentucky was outshot, outrebounded, outassisted and, ultimately, out-efforted, falling 83-66.

“We’re disappointed and discouraged, and completely discombobulated right now,” Pope admitted to the media following the defeat. 

A similar problem occurred in Kentucky’s loss to in-state rival Louisville only one week prior. The offense lacked rhythm, flow and a collective team-oriented brand of basketball.

Even though Kentucky’s three wins against Nicholls, Valparaiso and Eastern Illinois may have run up its point total, they were more one-on-one affairs, and Kentucky was visibly lacking chemistry and the urge to play together as one unit.

Against Tom Izzo’s Spartans squad, UK shot 20-57 (35%) from the field and just 7-30 (23%) from beyond the 3-point arc, while only totaling 13 assists compared to Michigan State’s 26.

MSU guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 13 assists solely by himself, and while that says enough about the lack of offensive rhythm, it opens up the repeated conversation about UK’s lack of defense thus far.

In Michigan State’s first three contests, it landed a total of 13 3-point field goals. However, on Tuesday night, Pope’s unit allowed them to drain 11, seemingly disregarding any attempt at making an effort to close out shots from behind the arc. 

Michigan State didn’t just earn its win because its deep ball was successful; it was also fueled by forwards Brandon Garrison and Malachi Moreno, who allowed 30 paint points and were completely bullied by MSU big man Jaxon Kohler, who recorded 20 points while shooting 66.7% from the field.

When Pope was finished answering questions, UK guard Otega Oweh and center Malachi Moreno took questions from the media. When Oweh was asked about what wasn’t working for him personally, it triggered an alarming, to say the least, response.

“With me, it’s just a matter of me playing hard and effort 100%,” Oweh said. “That is something I gotta go out there and do.”

Oweh was labeled as the leader of this Kentucky team, as one of only four returning players from last year’s Sweet 16 squad, and also earned the SEC Preseason Player of the Year award, making this quote even more concerning and, honestly, even more confusing. 

How is your “leader” admitting that his biggest flaw right now stems from his own effort?

The same team that constantly announced and publicized its ambitions of winning a national championship is now 0-2 against ranked opponents this season, and to be blunt, the start of both contests foreshadowed the result that would eventually transpire.

It is clear that the Wildcats are not where they want to be right now and aren’t remotely close to playing the brand of basketball that they have talked up and envisioned. 

But, as some have been saying with encouragement, it’s November, UK has only played five games, and the season is in its earliest stage, which is a positive takeaway from this mess.

Kentucky has more than enough time to figure out its flaws, but it needs to happen from within, and Pope needs to stop the bleeding before it worsens. The whole team needs to hit the reset button.

Pope needs to find a way to strengthen the team’s chemistry and trust with each other because if Kentucky stopped playing individual basketball, the whole court would open up and create more scoring opportunities. 

Shots would start falling, the chances of getting more open looks would flourish and to be quite honest, it would probably be more enjoyable for the players than it is right now. 

It may sound cliche and I understand that this isn’t the plot of a Disney film, but try any team bonding activity, a new philosophy or approach to drills and film sessions, anything possible to bolster the team’s inner DNA. 

Kentucky has two opportunities to reidentify itself in the final weeks of Novmeber, facing Loyola-Maryland on Nov. 21 and Tennessee Tech on Nov. 26, before a massive December slate rolls into play.

The Cats will play three ranked teams in the month of December and battle a sneaky-good Indiana Hoosiers team as well, which opens the availability to earn quality wins and stack confidence heading into conference play.

All in all, Pope is facing the biggest roadblock of his young Kentucky career and at this point, with the negatives raining down, hitting the reset button would aid the team to greater success. 

Even if it doesn’t, it would still be better than letting the season drag on like this, because at this moment, the Cats will struggle against any quality opponent that crosses their way.