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Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Road to perfection has not been easy

By Joshua Kays

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At the beginning of the season I always afraid to talk about the undefeated talk for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team   because I know how hard it is to win every game of the regular schedule.  The non-conference schedule was loaded with top 25 teams, and well, the drive for perfection last year was over in early November.

Well, here we are one game away from completing a perfect regular season, and being the first team since the 1970s to go undefeated in the regular season from a power conference.

Dec 13, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) celebrates during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second half at Rupp Arena. The Kentucky Wildcats defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-70. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

With a perfect season so close I am sure people who don’t follow Kentucky on a regular basis thinks everything went perfect for this Kentucky team, but that’s not the case. Junior Alex Poythress went down right before the North Carolina game in December with an ACL injury, and it put the damper on the mood around the team; because Poythress was one of the more popular players.  Thoughts went back to the 2012-13 season when a Nerlens Noel injury contributed to the NIT berth.  So my optimism was guarded.

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During the Eastern Kentucky game this Kentucky Wildcats  team was about two minutes away from having their three-point streak broken.  Thankfully Trey Lyles, and Karl Towns hit back to back 3s to keep the streak alive. That streak almost ended a couple of times but shooters like Devin Booker are there to protect it.  And it stands at 930 games.

We have trailed in some games at halftime that we shouldn’t have like Columbia, Buffalo, and Boston University.  We also needed late game heroics against LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and most recently Georgia. For being one of the youngest teams in the NCAA, this team has shown amazing poise and responded in the clutch.

Now, Florida comes into Rupp Arena on Saturday looking to ruin this great season that we’ve earned. Yes, Kentucky earned this. We have played 12 top 50 RPI teams, and obviously we are 12-0 against those teams. The SEC is better than people think, and the nation will see that in the NCAA tournament.  Five or six teams will make the tournament and at there will be one big upset pulled by the SEC in this years tournament.

Saturday could be a very special day in the history of Kentucky Wildcats basketball, as we may never see this again. I know the crowd will be crazy, and the players will be ready for a 15-15 Florida team. Guess what though? It doesn’t matter.  This is still Florida, and the players remember them beating us in Rupp Arena last season. Now it is Kentucky’s turn to sweep the Gators and finish a perfect SEC season and even better, regular season.

Next: Know Your Enemy: Florida Gators

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