After ‘wake-up call’ at Tennessee, Kentucky optimistic about what awaits in March
Before the telecast of Kentucky’s basketball game against Alabama on Saturday, CBS will air its annual “Men’s Bracket Preview” show. The Selection Committee for the NCAA Tournament will reveal its top 16 seeds at this point.
So, with injuries leaving Kentucky shorthanded in most defeats this season, how does John Calipari think his team should be assessed?
“I don’t know,” the UK coach said Friday. “I’m not even thinking about it.”
Calipari said he was unaware of the bracket preview show.
“We’ve established who we are,” he said. “Everybody knows who we are. We’ve just got to get healthy and be that team.”
Following a familiar script, Calipari said he could not say if star freshman TyTy Washington would play against Alabama. A leg/ankle injury he suffered against Florida last weekend limited Washington to 12-plus minutes at Tennessee. Jacob Toppin played at Tennessee after having to sit out the Florida game.
“We could be two (or) three down,” Calipari said of the Alabama game. “I don’t know yet.”
Of course, Kentucky is coming off a 76-63 defeat at Tennessee on Tuesday. It was UK’s most lopsided loss of the season.
When asked if the UK team needed a metaphorical wake-up call, Davion Mintz said, “Yeah, we did. I wish it would have been a practice wake-up call.
“We still have a really good team, and we’re going to keep pushing.”
Kentucky, 21-5 overall and 10-3 in the Southeastern Conference, had won six straight games going to Tennessee. That included a rout of Kansas at Kansas and a handling of Alabama at Alabama.
“We were on a really good stretch,” Mintz said. “We probably started to smell ourselves a little bit.”
When asked about Mintz categorizing the Tennessee game as a necessary wake-up call, Calipari said, “I hope he’s right. Maybe I needed a wake-up call. Not only did (UK players) get outplayed, I got out-coached.”
With Selection Sunday three weekends away, Mintz suggested the timing of a wake-up call was advantageous.
“Around this time, you want to expose yourself and find things to get better at,” he said, “and fine tune before March comes.”
Alabama, 17-9 overall and 7-6 in the SEC, is coming off an 80-75 victory over Mississippi State.
State Coach Ben Howland called the Tide “one of the better teams in the country, and a team that I think will make a deep run in the (NCAA) tournament because of how hard they are to match up with.”
Guard Jahvon Quinerly suggested Alabama was on a roll having won three straight since the 66-55 home loss to Kentucky.
“The sky’s the limit, in my opinion, as long as we have the right head space and guys are bringing positive energy to the table,” he said.
Calipari spoke of Kentucky’s priorities against Alabama being defending the three-point shot and being prepared to get long rebounds.
Oscar Tshiebwe saw a wake-up call as a good thing.
“I told my teammates, if we think we are too good for everybody, we are fooling ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to play.”
Mintz stopped short of linking a wake-up call with the NCAA Tournament.
“One game at a time,” he said. “We’re going to be all right.”
Calipari echoed that sentiment.
“I don’t know how we’re going to finish the regular season,” he said. “But I’ll tell you (this): Going into March, this is the team I want to coach. Let’s go. Let’s line it up. Let’s throw it up.”
Saturday
No. 25 Alabama at No. 4 Kentucky
When: 1 p.m.
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Alabama 17-9 (7-6 SEC), Kentucky 21-5 (10-3)
Series: UK leads 115-40.
Last meeting: UK won 66-55 on Feb. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 1:40 PM.
