What Kentucky basketball records could fall in Year 1 of Mark Pope’s tenure as coach?

• The 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats have already set a program record for most wins over AP top-10 and top-15 teams in a season.
• Otega Oweh scored in double figures in Kentucky’s first 26 games this season.
• Mark Pope’s team is averaging the second-most points per game of any first-year coach in program history (since Adolph Rupp’s debut in 1930-31).

LEXINGTON — The 2023-24 season was a banner one for Kentucky basketball. At least in terms of its record book.

The Wildcats set a single-season program markfor 3-point accuracy. Antonio Reeves set a John Calipari-era mark for points per game. Reed Sheppard set a Calipari-era standard for steals, finishing just five short of matching Rajon Rondo‘s program record.

The 2024-25 Wildcats, in the first season under coach Mark Pope, aren’t tracking on quite the same path. But there are still a handful of marks in their sights.

And how does Pope’s first team compare, statistically, with those of previous UK coaches in their maiden campaigns in Lexington?

The Courier Journal provides a breakdown:

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Here’s one category in which Pope already has put himself atop the chart with college basketball’s all-time winningest program.

Through Feb. 22, UK has beaten seven teams ranked among the top 15 of the AP poll at the time of the game. And Kentucky boasts six victories over AP top-10 foes.