Mark Pope wants to apply as much pressure as possible on opposing teams this season

Kentucky basketball had a statement win in their exhibition game against Purdue in Rupp Arena, as they dominated the Boilermakers nearly the entire game. There were a lot of scoring droughts for both teams, but Kentucky's offensive firepower was able to withstand it. The offense had it's brilliant moments, but it was Kentucky's defense that stole the show, as they locked down arguably the best offense in college basketball for much of the game.

Purdue came into Rupp Arena with not just the nation's best offense, but one that featured the preseason favorite for National Player of the Year, as well as a fellow All-American in Trey Kaufman-Renn. The Wildcats absolutely shut the Boilermakers' high-powered offense down, holding them to just 39 percent shooting and 3-17 from three-point range. What makes Kentucky so dangerous defensively? It's the versatility and length, of course, but it's also the team's incredible depth.

Mark Pope believes that applying pressure on opponents will be a huge key for Kentucky's success. That was on display against Purdue, but Pope wants to see his guys play harder in those minutes on the floor.

"(Purdue) didn't shoot the ball particularly well tonight and I'm hoping that part of it was just that there was somewhat of a relentless pressure and pace to the game. I actually felt like we didn't play as hard as we're gonna have to play to win consistently. I was looking at the bench being like, 'I need fresh bodies.' So, we'll continue to work on our conditioning, but it's a matter of how much pressure can we exert on this game every single second. That will help us defensively. That will help us offensively, because it breaks open things, the fatigue and the unrelenting pressure."

Kentucky had a deep rotation, showing off it's depth, and Pope believes that can apply pressure on their oppenents this season. Along with the depth, there was plenty of scoring to go around on Friday, as 10 players contributed in the scoring column. Pope noticed the point distribution, saying after the game that he sees a lot of similarities between this team's scoring distribution and his 1996 National Championship squad at Kentucky.

The Wildcats showed relentless defense on Friday, and if holding the nation's #1 team and best offense to just 39 percent shooting and 3-17 from three isn't applying enough pressure according to Pope, this team can be really scary for opponents this season. You can't ask for a much better start than Kentucky's dominating win over Purdue.