Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats’ win more like a lazy river than roaring rapids

Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington seems to have shed the rust from injuries

Kentucky’s starting duo of TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler may have played against Arkansas on Saturday, but it wasn’t until Tuesday night they seem to have shaken off all the rust while sidelined with injuries.

Both were back to all smiles, running the Wildcat offensive attack and best of all moving the excitement needle with each’s own energetic and dynamic play-making abilities.

Each was back to contributing to the pieces missing when both are not in the Kentucky lineup. The offense runs but not nearly as high octane as when Wheeler and Washington are pushing the tempo.

Wheeler rang up16 points while handing out 7 assists, grabbing three rebounds, and turning it over just twice.

Calipari referenced why he was on the floor and the impact he had against the Rebels.

"“Like I say, Sahvir [Wheeler], of all the point guards who are going for the Cousy Award, I need to see one that has a bigger impact on the game than him, both defensively and offensively. Creating shots, playing with speed, the pace of the game is what he dictates, smart. But then disruptive defensively. You say, well, he’s small. Yeah, but how disruptive? They were pushing off to get it up the court. So, I’m proud of him.”"

His running mate contributed 14 points, dished out 4 assists, and had three steals.

These two make the Wildcat engine purr when both are contributing to a game at the same time. Take one away and the UK offense throttles down a couple of notches. Lose both and as we witnessed the engine sometimes gets stuck in first gear, maybe second.

Both were very happy in their post-game actions and talks to the media. TyTy was dancing as usual and grabbing the mic after the horn sounded.

He was asked about his confidence and the play of Wheeler and Tshiebwe.

"“My confidence is very high. Every shot and stuff I shoot in the game, everything I do in the game, I do that in practice, I do that on my workout. So, I just feel like me having self-confidence is very high, and having a guy like Oscar, my confidence is very high. I know if I miss it, he’s going, 95% of the time, he’s going to grab the rebound and put it back up, so we’re still getting the basket either way. With Sahvir, same with him. We’ll be in the gym together a lot, we both motivate each other. We’re both be in there trash talking each other because we know at the end of the day, we want the best for each other. So, the more reps we get into together and just staying constant will always help.”"

As the Wildcats head to Gainsville on Saturday with the SEC Tournament seeding on the line let’s step back to enjoy the moment and this team. Unlike last year when we were all miserable and couldn’t wait for spring football, this year it’s worth riding the lazy river all the way to NOLO.