Kentucky basketball almost had another bad collapse against Missouri. Instead of folding, the Cats stood up and made winning plays in crunch time to secure a 78-72 revenge win. Now, the prize for that effort is a date with the #1 seed Florida Gators. The Gators are a team that has already knocked off Kentucky twice this season, including a wire-to-wire 84-77 win in Lexington just five days ago. Thomas Haugh averaged 18.5 and 8.5 against the Cats this season. The big men for Kentucky will have to be better than they were against LSU, and Mark Mitchell, who had 32.
It is notoriously difficult to beat a high-level team three times in a single year. In fact, the Gators haven't pulled off a "triple-crown" over Kentucky since 2014. But the two losses earlier don't faze Mark Pope, who says his guys aren't "afraid" of the challenge.
The 'present moment' success
As Kentucky navigated a season of wild winning streaks and head-scratching losses, they were inadvertently learning what it meant to fight through adversity. They took it on the chin against Gonzaga and Alabama, but they delivered counter-punches to Tennessee and Arkansas.
Every time the Cats got up, they got knocked back down. But they kept getting up.
Pope says that rollercoaster ride has left his team ready for the lights of Nashville. “There’s not a lot left that our guys are afraid of," Pope noted after the Missouri win. "We’ve had a lot of experiences where we’ve had success and failed at just staying present. Today was a good example of being present in the moment.”
The rest vs. fatigue factor
When a 16-point lead became a 1-point deficit today, there was no panic. Kentucky regained its composure and put away a Missouri team that had the advantage of resting yesterday.
Now, the Cats face the ultimate test against a Florida team led by Thomas Haugh and Boogie Fland, who have sat out the first two days of the tournament and are hunting for a #1 seed in the Big Dance.
Mark Pope said you have to "earn" the right to play again in March. The Cats did that today. Now it comes down to the will and fight to make shots when the legs get heavy.
It's not going to be easy, but nothing this season has been.
Time for Kentucky to deliver a knockout blow
Kentucky has been the punched and they've been the puncher. Tomorrow at 1:00 PM ET, they have a chance to deal a knockout blow to a Gator team that has dominated them for 80 minutes this season. It’s time to prove the SEC Tournament is still the "Kentucky Invitational."