There have been a couple of annoying narratives surrounding the Kentucky basketball program leading into the NCAA Tournament, and Mark Pope would love to end them.

The first narrative is that Coach Pope has yet to win a NCAA Tournament game. While this is true, and Pope is 0-2 in tournament games at this point in his career, the narrative is being pushed too hard. All Coach Pope has to do for this narrative to end is beat Troy on Friday night. Then, no one can say he has never won in the tournament.

The second narrative surrounding the Kentucky Wildcats is the fact that they have lost in the first round the last two times they were a top three seed. These losses came to 15-seed Saint Peter’s and 14-seed Oakland.

What doesn’t make any sense about this narrative is that Kentucky has a brand new team and coaching staff. While this is true, ESPN has still been pushing the narrative that “Kentucky better look out for Troy. They struggle in games like this.”

Historically, Coach Pope has been excellent in games like this, which is a big reason why the Wildcats are 10-0 in quad three and four games this season.

Pope must win this game, or these two narratives will just be even louder this time next year. Kentucky needs to demolish Troy and get back to what this program is known for, which is playing basketball into the month of April.

The Kentucky Wildcats will take on Troy on Friday night at 7:10 pm ET, looking to end these narratives.