Kentucky basketball: Game preview and 3 keys to victory vs Mizzou

1. Have the Wildcats found their identity?

To call this year’s Kentucky basketball team an enigma would be an understatement. A times this season the Cats have looked like world beaters. Other times you wonder if they could beat your son’s high school team. Okay, they may be a bit of a stretch, but the lack of consistency from the Wildcats this season has been frustrating to watch.

And while Big Blue Nation is having their patience tested, one would have to assume that John Calipari is ready to pull his hair out. The Cats appeared to turn a corner in Morgantown last weekend. Kentucky overcame a 15-point halftime deficit and defeated a ranked team, on the road in a hostile environment.

So, all is good, right? Wrong! The Cats followed up that amazing performance by laying an egg at home to a Vanderbilt that isn’t in the same stratosphere as Kentucky talent-wise. It took Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having a career night, untimely missed foul shots by Vandy, an extra 5 minutes of playing time and a coast-to-coast layup in the closing seconds by Quade Green in order for the Wildcats to escape.

Does this team need to be trailing in order to excel? Do they play better under pressure? Are they, as Cal suggests, just very young? I don’t know the answers to those questions, but Coach Cal and the UK coaching staff better figure it out quickly. The next 7 games will show us a lot regarding the Cats resolve and intestinal fortitude.

With two games against Mizzou, a home game against No. 18 Tennessee and back-to-back road games against Texas A&M and Auburn, the Cats don’t have a cupcake game anytime in the near future. A more balanced SEC will test this team down the stretch and for them to succeed they must play better consistency. It starts Saturday in Columbia.