Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Winning On Their Off Nights

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The Kentucky Wildcats are beatable on their off nights, if you play a perfect game. 40-0 is unheard of in today’s game. Somewhere along the line, your team is going to have an off night while their opponent plays lights out. It happens to everyone. It hasn’t yet happened to the Wildcats.

We’re heading into the last part of the season where a loss will not cost you the season of a lifetime. If the Wildcats lost at home to Florida and then a game in the SEC Tournament, but won the rest of them, the National Championship would still be theirs. If they’re going to lose, they better lose soon or their season would be considered a bust, even if they played 30 straight games without a loss.

However, 30-0 is quite an accomplishment. You rarely hear of such a feat. Wichita State went 35-0 and who handed them their first loss last season…in the NCAA Tournament? None other than the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats already have a huge target on their back because of the name on the front of their jersey, but with an undefeated season on the line, the target becomes bigger and everyone wants to be the one who takes them down.

Do I believe the Kentucky Wildcats have a legitimate shot at running the table? I didn’t, I thought somewhere along the line they’d have an off night and it’d cost them a game. However, after Tuesday night in Athens..my mind has changed. If there is a team that is capable of winning 10 more games..it’s this team, it’s these players.

Tuesday night made me a big believer in their ability to deal with adversity. They could’ve fell into the fetal position and freaked out when they were down 9 more than halfway through the second half to a talented Georgia team that were playing out of their minds. Nothing was falling for the Wildcats, everything was falling for the Bulldogs. However, they stuck together and somehow pulled out the win in the last few minutes of the game. Their ability to wear teams out is beneficial for them. The platoon system is genius, one platoon gets rest while the other gets to work, while that is going on, the opposing team are getting worn down and tired.

Aaron Harrison shared his opinion on the postseason to The Courier-Journal after the win over Georgia,

"A championship is much more important than a perfect season. But we’re winding down. We’re going to have to that, to be undefeated for us to win the championship. Just going into the postseason, that’s when everyone’s undefeated, so you have to start from there."

I don’t care what happens in the SEC Tournament, if we’re going to lose, let’s get it in before the NCAA Tournament.

Next: One Last Hurrah For Walk-Ons and Others

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