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Kentucky opened the month with two losses and will look to avoid back-to-back setbacks to close out January at No. 15 Arkansas on Saturday.
Kentucky (14-7, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) is coming off an embarrassing 80-55 loss at No. 18 Vanderbilt in the team’s worst offensive output of the season. The loss ended the Wildcats’ five-game winning streak and the team’s first defeat since a 73-68 loss to Missouri on Jan. 7 in Lexington.
“We’re on the emotional roller-coaster,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said earlier this week. “It’s just what this year is for us right now. I think every game is so emotionally charged for us. This is certainly, you know, and every game is so big, and this one is for all the reasons. That’s what our job is.”
In his team’s last outing, Pope said his squad “couldn’t keep our focus in the moment,” leading to a “bunch of things that jumped on our back.”
“We ended up having these weird anomalous things, like a guy who’s never taken a ball out of bounds on the side, all of a sudden taken out of bounds, and all of us like looking around, like, ‘What is happening out here, right?’ You have moments like that.”
The challenge going into tonight’s contest against former Kentucky coach John Calipari, Pope said, is to look ahead and stay in the moment instead of dwelling on the past.
“When we do that, we’re really good, and that’ll be our job,” Pope said. “We’re actually trying crazy stuff in practice right now, trying to shore up some things. We’re gonna have a different format to practice than we ever have before, just because we’re trying to address our current needs right now.”
Calipari, whose team carries a three-game winning streak into the contest following an 83-79 win at Oklahoma earlier this week, downplayed the significance of coaching against his former team. Calipari’s squad defeated the Wildcats 89-79 last year in Lexington.
“It’s the next game, and we’re in a different position,” Calipari said following the win over the Sooners. “We kind of flipped the switch … We got them pretty good, but we were 1-6. Somebody said, ‘It was (Kentucky), I didn’t care who it was. We needed to beat somebody.’ And now the only significance of the game to me is we need to keep winning because let’s stay paced with what’s going on and people around us.”
Calipari and Pope have the same two-year record (38-19) at their respective programs during the first 57 games, and Calipari praised his successor earlier this week.
Pope said the Razorbacks (16-5, 6-2) are performing at a high rate, led by freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. Acuff is averaging 22.6 points per game in the team’s eight conference games and 20.2 ppg for the year. Former Kentucky guard D.J. Wagner, who followed Calipari to Arkansas, is averaging 7.5 ppg.
“I think they’re making a lot of sense with each other right now,” Pope said of Arkansas. “I think they’re getting great effort from guys. They’re really playing eight guys and they found a way to fit the pieces together pretty good. I think their two fives, the two transfer fives, have found a way to fit in and impact the game. (Trevon Brazile) is playing at a really high level, and their young freshmen have really come along. They’re playing exactly what you’d expect.”
Overall, Kentucky is 8-1 in bounce-back games after a loss under Pope, and the Wildcats are 14-5 against former coaches Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and Calipari.
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Gametracker: Kentucky at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
7 Responses
Make that 14-6 after today's game.
Barry, im not to optimistic either.
79, I am soooo glad that I was wrong on this game. Where was this effort in Nashville? Garrison has to learn how to keep his head. Getting off to a fast start won this game. Those 3 technicals in 39 seconds almost stole it. Oklahoma always plays us tough. Let's see if we can start another win streak with Tennessee coming to town next Saturday.
My stomach is starting to feel a little stress thinking of what is about to happen on the big stage AGAIN. This team and coaching staff only look the part. It is just unbelievable to see how our brand has been shattered by the product and quality of play we have been putting on display. It seems to me that a lot of teams out there have big guys that are physical and can shoot. Why is it that UK has not been able to get any of them? Moreno has some talent but a lot better out there. He really can't finish well and doesn't really have a dependable shot. He is a good rebounder and decent passer.
This team is bewildering
Tell me about it Grant! We finally got off to a fast start. Can we keep it up?
The emotion of that game will be nothing compared to what Oklahoma and Tennessee will be bringing to Rupp Arena this week.
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