Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Game Day vs. The Auburn Tigers

Feb 5, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) during the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated South Carolina 77-55. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Willie Cauley-Stein talked to the media yesterday as well. WCS sounded more like a senior than a freshman when he was asked about looking ahead to Florida:

"A trip to second-ranked Florida on Tuesday looms. Does that make today’s game against lowly Auburn a trap for the University of Kentucky basketball team? “We have a problem with that,” freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein said. “Starting with the Notre Dame game, the Baylor game, we have a problem with taking people lightly. If we don’t come ready, you’re liable to get beat. The Wildcats (16-6, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) walloped the Tigers by 22 points in their first meeting on Jan. 19, which was part of a six-game losing streak for Auburn (9-13, 3-6). But today’s visitors just did something UK couldn’t two weeks ago: beat Alabama. The Tigers toppled the Tide 49-37 on Wednesday. That has at least one Cat’s attention. “You’ve got to come out like they’re better than you — even if they’re not,” Cauley-Stein said. “Our whole mindset going into Florida is try to win this game and have a good feel to yourself."

You have to love his attitude. One of the biggest knocks on this team is their lack of mental toughness. They have had a pattern of playing well one game and then completely falling apart the next one. That cannot happen against a team as bad as Auburn. The selection committee is looking for every excuse to make Kentucky a double-digit seed.

H-T to the Louisville Courier-Journal for the John Calipari and Willie Cauley-Stein Quotes

Jan 26, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Alex Poythress (22), guard Julius Mays (34) and guard Archie Goodwin (10) walk out of a timeout during the game against the LSU Tigers at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated LSU 75-70. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Other than Cal teaching life skills, the current winning streak can be attributed to the fact that these Wildcats have learned to shed the expectations heaped upon them by last year’s national championship team. Eric Lindsey from CoachCal.com had a stellar piece about that subject. Here is what Julius Mays had to say about it:

"When you got a team like that and then you’ve got us coming in after, it’s like how could you beat that? How can we be better than that?” Mays said. “I felt like guys were thinking, ‘I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to live up to this. I’ve got to play like this guy played. I’ve got to do this for the team.’ It’s just really not possible. It’s never going to be the exact same team. We are our own team. What they did last year should have no effect on us.” But when losses mounted early – games Mays said they should have never dropped – the already unreasonable pressure the players had built in their heads started to snowball. “It was like we lost a swagger that we had once we dropped a game and then we dropped another game,” Mays said. “Then everybody started feeling like we weren’t as good as we could be, so I think it set us back by the mental aspect of it."

Well said, Julius.

Dec 2, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops spoke to reporters at press conference introducing him as the new football coach at the Nutter Field House. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

And finally, the good news from Kentucky football just keeps rolling in. Tevin Lawson was asked to gray shirt by LSU but his family could not afford college tuition for a year and he wants the chance to play right away. Kentucky was seen as a great opportunity to do that. But, word got out that Lawson canceled his visit to UK and was going to stay home and attend Louisiana Tech, per the wishes of his mother.

Now it has been confirmed that Lawson did indeed land in Lexington last night with his mother along for the ride for an official visit. Mark Stoops’ job is to not only woo Lawson, but to woo his mother and sell her on Lexington. The prevailing thought is that Lawson is ready to sign his LOI but is waiting on his mom’s approval.

Lawson is a four star defensive tackle and rated as the twenty-first best defensive tackle in the country. He is a big boy coming in at 6’4, 274 pounds. Come on Stoops, work your magic.

As long as Lawson’s mother doesn’t run away with his LOI from Kentucky (if he does decide to sign one) then we are in good shape.