Mark Pope wants Andrija Jelavić to continue to step up

Andrija Jelavić didn’t stuff the stat sheet in Kentucky’s 24-point win over Mississippi State on Saturday, but he made a real impact on the game, so much so that his head coach wants to see more of it moving forward.

Jelavić has seen his playing time diminish over the last several weeks, even registering four DNP-CDs in the Wildcats’ five previous games going into Saturday. Through Kentucky’s first 10 contests of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes per outing, logging double-digit minutes in all of them. But then the 6-foot-11 sophomore rode the bench all game long against Indiana and St. John’s. He returned for a seven-minute stint against Bellarmine before returning to the pine again against Alabama and Missouri.

For whatever reason, Jelavić was in Mark Pope‘s dog house. Jayden Quaintance making his debut in the rotation didn’t help open up extra minutes, either. But with Quaintance sidelined on Saturday against Mississippi State, another opportunity for Jelavić finally came — and he took advantage of it. The Croatian big man finished with three points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal. He was a +14 in 16 minutes of action, most of his contributions coming in the second half.

“He was awesome. He’s handled it great. He’s a pretty steady human being, right?” Pope said on Monday about Jelavić. “And so he’s like, ‘Hey I don’t like that I’m not playing right now, but I understand the process and I’ve been through this before and I know that if I just keep working then good things are going to happen whenever it’s time for them to happen.’ I think he had some sense of the fact that he could be thrust into that game Saturday, and I thought he was really good.”

Against Mississippi State, Jelavić knocked down his first three-pointer since the NC Central game on Dec. 9. He was successful in executing Kentucky’s hard-hedging defensive scheme, which helped hold the Bulldogs to just 68 points. In a season that hasn’t gone as hoped for the ‘Cats, Jelavić provides a different look as a stretchable, mobile big man.

Remember, this is a 21-year-old with multiple years of pro experience under his belt — having to work his way into a rotation (and then work hard enough to stay there) isn’t something he’s unfamiliar with.

“His presence, he has a calmness about him,” Pope added. “He made pretty good decisions on the offensive end. We’re gonna need him to be good going forward just because he has a skillset that can really help us.“

Throughout the course of a 31-game regular season, there will be natural ups and downs with players in the middle of the rotation. Jelavić is experiencing that right now, but he kept himself mentally prepared for battle once his number was called against MSU.

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