Oscar Tshiebwe says UK realizes it is "going to war" Saturday at Auburn. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Oscar Tshiebwe is ready for war. The Kentucky forward and the 12th-ranked Wildcats better gird up for their biggest road challenge to date at No. 2 Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers (17-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), one of the hottest teams in the nation, carry a 14-game winning streak into the showdown between a pair of top 12 programs, a first in Auburn Arena history.
“The mindset for us right now is that we are going to the war,” Tshiebwe said Friday. “It’s not going to be easy. We just need to go out there and fight. It’s like when people go fight for their country. They’re not just going to go out there and play around, they go into there willing to die (for their country). We’re willing to die just to win.”
Tshiebwe said the team’s current state of mind is “really good for us.”
“We’re having fun,” he said. “We all stick together and we care for each other. We fight and that’s why we’re having fun.”
Not one to put too much importance on any single game, Kentucky coach John Calipari downplayed the battle, saying it was not a “significant game.”
“We’ve got to go into the game knowing that the game we’re going to play, we respect all of the teams,” he said. “Texas A&M was an outstanding team. Sold out, it was a great crowd and it was a rock fight and they’re all the same. They’re a good team. They’re big, their guard play (is good), they shoot it well and they do a lot of stuff to get lobs … they’re really good.”
Kentucky (14-3, 5-1) has won its past five games, including a hard-fought 64-58 victory at Texas A&M Wednesday night at College Station. It was the team’s second consecutive road win and fifth in a row since dropping a 65-60 loss at LSU on Jan. 4.
Two of Kentucky’s next three games are on the road, including a showdown at Kansas on Jan. 29 in. Lawrence, Kansas.
“These games toughen you up,” Calipari said. “We’re going into a hostile environment and it’s going to be a really had game.”
Despite his team’s success this season, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has taken note of the Wildcats’ strong play too.
“We’ve got to step up in a huge way for Kentucky,” he said. “I think it’s one of the best teams John (Calipari) has had in years. It’ll be a clash of the titans, that’s for sure.”
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Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at Keith.taylor@kentuckytodaycom and via twitter at keithtaylor21.
3 Responses
As much as Auburn pressured the ball and overplayed the pass, we didn’t have one backdoor play. Wheeler is no longer a pass first guard, he took more shots than anyone on the floor. We cannot stop drives to the middle without help, but that leaves a man open under the basket and Auburn found him more times than not. The Washington injury was a game changer. Until we abandon an offense that is built around the dribble drive and play more from the wings feeding the post or cuts to the basket, we will continue to lose to the good teams. They prepare for that and are stopping it and Calipari refuses to change. Jabari Smith is as good as advertised even though Auburns guards hogged the ball most of the game. Kessler was solid. Oscar has no help underneath. Again, half of the fouls that could have been called and should have been called were not called on Auburn. That is what makes the comi-cazi defense so effective. We have lost 3 games due to that and Calipari has not made any adjustments. Double digit losses will be our reality until adjustments are made.
If you want to wine and dine how we loss, I thought we fought hard to the end even without our two main guards. I will give Auburn the W, but with there flops and 29 – 10 free throws advantage your not gonna win the game. I will take a rematch at the sec tournament and with a healthy squad the results will be different.
If we get another shot at Auburn it will be without TyTy in my opinion. He has won 4 straight SEC freshman of the week and is a projected lottery pick. Cal will shut him down to protect his draft status. I foresee an injury that lingers the remainder of the season.
June will be another great day for Cal as he will probably have 2 lottery picks.
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