Kentucky coach Mark Pope was highly disappointed with his team's performance against heated rival Louisville earlier this week.

Now Pope is eager to see how his team responds when the No. 9 Wildcats face Eastern Illinois on Friday night at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky (2-1) fell 96-88 to the No. 12 Cardinals on Tuesday when host Louisville held the advantage for nearly 38 minutes and led by as many as 20 points.

Pope didn't mince words about his team's showing.

"I was proud of the guys for competing, but that's not the standard we have at Kentucky," Pope said.

Louisville committed just six turnovers and forced the Wildcats into 14. The Cardinals had a 19-10 edge in points off turnovers.

"We played extremely poorly, and credit Louisville for that," Pope said. "We played extremely poorly, b

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