Kentucky basketball again reaches a second-round fork in the road

Last year, this was the point where Kentucky’s road ended.

Second round of the NCAA Tournament. Midwestern city. Underrated opponent carrying a grudge. When the dust settled in Des Moines, Big Ten champ Indiana had abruptly ended Tyler Ulis’ Kentucky career and left Jamal Murray, a towel wrapped around his head, in tears inside the losing locker room.

“I don’t even want to think about last year,” said Kentucky senior Dominique Hawkins on Saturday. “Right now, we’re just playing it one game at a time.”

Forgive us, however, if this game — Sunday’s round-of-32 matchup with Wichita State — feels a lot like last’s year game. It’s the second round. It’s a Midwestern city. It’s a motivated, underrated opponent carrying a grudge.

“This is a Sweet 16, Elite Eight game,” said UK Coach John Calipari, adding, “We’re going to have to have a heck of a game to win the game, we know that.”

We also know Cal says that a lot. This time, best take him seriously. Indiana thought it was underseeded last year at No. 5. It’s even more so this year with No. 10 Wichita State. Gregg Marshall’s club currently owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 16, for heaven’s sake.

If that isn’t motivation enough, the men of Marshall have memories. The vast majority of this year’s roster may not have been around for that epic 2014 second-round game in which the unbeaten Shockers fell to Kentucky 78-76 in St. Louis, but they have heard enough about it from Shocker Nation to think they were.

“I just remember what it felt like losing,” said junior center Shaquille Morris, who as a redshirt didn’t even make it on the floor that day.

After a ridiculously late Friday night, Big Blue Nation woke with an uneasy feeling Saturday. UK did hold off Northern Kentucky 79-70, but the Cats slipped a step the second half. Up 18, they were outscored 25-16 by the Norse over the game’s final 7:22 and 46-41 over the final 20 minutes.

“(We’re going) to have to play better than we played (Friday) to win the game,” Calipari said Saturday.

To do so, they might need shoulder pads. The Shockers seek out contact. They also eat glass for a living. Marshall’s team outrebounds opponents by an average of nine per game. It destroyed Dayton on the boards 48-29. Second-chance points: Wichita State 19, Dayton 8.

“Viciously,” was the word Calipari used to describe the way Wichita State goes to the offensive glass.

The Cats are better prepared for that type of game now than they were early in the season when they overwhelmed opponents. They’re a bit older now, more mature and more experienced with teams that slow the pace and play it close to the end.

“Earlier I think we turned the ball over too much and took too many quick shots,” Hawkins said. “I think we’ve learned how to play that type of game.”

What its fan base may not be prepared for is another first-weekend knockout, especially for a team that was No. 1 in the AP poll in November, then worked its way back up the ladder to No. 6 in the pre-tournament rankings.

In his time at Kentucky, Calipari is 5-1 in NCAA second-round games, the lone loss coming last year. In fact, the last time the Cats experienced the go-home part of win-or-go-home in the first weekend twice in a row was Tubby Smith’s final two seasons as UK coach, 2006 and 2007.

Every team is different, of course. Last year’s Cats lacked a post presence. This year’s Cats have benefited from the late-season emergence of center Bam Adebayo, who grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds on Friday night. Last year’s Cats lacked experienced depth. This year’s Cats received a boost from seniors Hawkins, Derek Willis and Mychal Mulder.

And if Wichita State remembers the heartbreak of that 2014 second-round loss, Kentucky remembers the heartbreak of its 2016 second-round loss.

The rules say one team must experience that losing feeling all over again Sunday, while the other experiences the joy of moving on to Memphis.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Calipari said Saturday. “I want to see how my young guys respond.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Kentucky basketball again reaches a second-round fork in the road."