Vicky Graff Photo
Jaxson Robinson isn’t worried about Kentucky’s two-game losing streak going into tonight’s showdown against Tennessee in Knoxville.
“I’ve been doing this for five years and I know the conference play is up and down,” Robinson said Monday. “It’s not going to be uphill the whole time. You’re going to have your ups and downs, but you’ve just gotta keep pushing through it. Eventually, you’re going to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
No. 12 Kentucky (14-5, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) carries a rare two-game losing streak into the border showdown. The Wildcats dropped a 74-69 loss to Vanderbilt Saturday and Robinson knows the task won’t be any easier against the Volunteers. Eighth-ranked Tennessee (17-3, 4-3) lost to No. 1 Auburn 53-51 on Saturday and has suffered defeats in two of its past three games.
“They’re a tough team, everybody knows that,” Robinson said. “So, just going in there with a chip on our shoulder, knowing we’ve got something to prove, especially after the last game and the performance we put out there in the first half. We’re just looking to fix it and change it and hopefully come out with a win.”
Kentucky’s downfall in Nashville was a season-high 17 turnovers, coupled with the absence of starting forward Andrew Carr, who sat out because of a nagging back issue.
“I think we were just careless,” Robinson said. “I think there were a lot of errors that we don’t normally make. But we’re human, we make mistakes. All we can do is go and learn from it. I think we’ll see that the rest of this year.”
Robinson said eliminating turnovers will be a key for the Wildcats against Tennessee, which is known for its defensive prowess. The Volunteers are forcing 12 turnovers per game and are undefeated (11-0) at home this season.
‘We know we’ve got to take care of the ball first and foremost. We did a terrible job of that against Vandy,” Robinson said. “Tennessee causes a lot of turnovers. They’re very aggressive. That’s going to be a big emphasis in practice today, and really the entire time that we’re through the conference and into the tournament. But, definitely (turnovers are) big for this game.”
Much like Robinson, Kentucky guard Ansley Almonor is confident the Wildcats will get back on track sooner rather than later.
“We’ve got to figure out ourselves,” he said. “I don’t even know if you could practice that — it’s just a mental thing. We’ve got to be able to stay focused. For all 40 minutes, and you can’t have lapses.”
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Gametracker: Kentucky at Tennessee, 7 p.m., Tuesday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
4 Responses
We do have things to be better at, but when multiple players aren’t available all you can hope for is to make a decent showing with who is left. It would be a mistake for Carr to play tonight. Back injuries don’t heal fast, but they can be made much worse by trying to play too soon. I would love to see Oweh, Robinson, Brea, and Almonor all go off for 20 each tonight, but that would be a first. I will be happy if we put up 35-40 threes, win or lose.
Without Butler the Cats have no chance. They will have more turnovers than made 3’s. I will say Tennessee will have more made 3’s than the Cats. Double digit loss tonight. I will gladly eat crow if I’m wrong.
I don’t know what you are planning on eating tonight, but I doubt that it will have any feathers.
EAT IT–and I’ll WATCH—GLADLY—while I look forward to your SATUR–DAY…….