Kentucky men’s basketball has exceeded expectations early on in the Mark Pope Era, winning 12 of its first 15 games.
There have been unexpected positives that have surfaced with this new-look Kentucky team, but, similar to that, there have been negative flare ups as well.
In neutral site contests, Kentucky is 2-1, earning massive wins over No. 6 Duke in Atlanta and No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle before falling to Ohio State in New York City.
When not playing at Rupp Arena in true road games, however, Kentucky has struggled to mask a flawed new identity that may submerge its hopes of getting grade-A seeding come tournament time if it doesn’t dig a way around its lethargic starts.