On paper, Kentucky’s resume bears three rather dire losses. A single-digit drop (albeit on the road) to Clemson, a 20-point loss to Ohio State on a neutral floor, and a 13-point loss at conference opponent Georgia; each opponent was unranked, and unfavored, going in.
And there truly is no way around it: those are bad losses, indeed. But the Wildcats’ subsequent response after each of the three has done more to define the team and their identity going forward than any loss ever could have. It’s not about the boys in blue and white falling, it’s about the manner in which they get up.
Battling Adversity
The first instance came directly after the aforementioned Clemson game. Kentucky found themselves traveling once more to a “neutral” (only technically so) floor against Gonzaga in their home state of Seattle, down 16 at halftime. Not to mention they were missing their starting floor general, Lamont Butler.
Not long into the second half, Kerr Kriisa, Butler’s backup, went down too, with Kentucky still down double digits at the time. For a lot of teams, that’d be where you cut your losses and warm up the bus.
But the battered ‘Cats pressed on, made multiple runs, and beat the Bulldogs 90-89 in an instant overtime classic. Undoubtedly a signature win, though one that many discarded when Kentucky dropped the Ohio State game in a blowout shortly after.
That is, until they topped then sixth-ranked Florida at home, 106-100, in a shootout just two games later.
Then… well, you get the picture. Bad loss to Georgia, big win over Mississippi State. The only pattern with this team is their unpredictability, but three of Kentucky’s four ranked wins (they’re 4-0 in such games) have come off their losses, and two of them have been away from home.
Come Together
In the press conference following the Florida win, Mark Pope was asked what it takes for the Wildcats to be able to string together multiple, lengthy unanswered scoring runs, the likes of which have kept them alive game-in and game-out with their backs against the wall.
“This is gonna sound soft, but I’m a big believer that all my guys snuck into Kerr Kriisa’s apartment, after celebrating his birthday, to go scare him and surprise him… my guy is struggling right now because he can’t play right now, and it’s killing him.”
He continued, “They all snuck into his apartment, like little kids, to go surprise him, and I actually think those runs come from a group like that.”
“I think it comes from being together.”
