Kentucky is primed to make a run in the postseason.
The Wildcats took care of business Saturday, defeating LSU 94-77 to secure a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season title, a remarkable feat considering a roller-coaster ride the team has endured this season.
Although talent was never an issue, consistency and confidence was lacking, which resulted in disappointing performances on the road. The stack of setbacks included losses to UCLA, Ohio State, Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Although not wins, the team displayed spirited performances at top-ranked Kansas and league co-champion Texas A&M, dropping both games in overtime.
A month ago, Kentucky was relying on guards Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis to carry the load. Although Murray and Ulis were consistent, the Wildcats didn’t become “empowered” until an 89-62 win at South Carolina. The performance against the Gamecocks gave Kentucky coach John Calipari the sign he needed to develop a trust he had envisioned since the beginning of the season.
“We try to empower our team,” Calipari said after a double-digit win over the Tigers. “South Carolina empowered them.”
From that point on, the Wildcats started developing confidence, an ingredient Kentucky desperately needed to succeed. The emergence of Derek Willis, the leadership of Alex Poythress and Skal Labissiere’s rise has given the Wildcats more weapons to utilize in the postseason.
“You’ve got to have a confident team going into the tournament,” Calipari said. “It can’t be two guys. You look at Alex (Poythress), Marcus (Lee) playing with confidence, Derek (Willis) playing with confidence, Skal playing with confidence, the other guys playing with confidence, now all of the sudden we’ve got an empowered team playing with confidence.”
The recent play of Willis, Labissiere, Lee, Poythress and Willis also has taken pressure off Ulis and Murray in the scoring department. Just four players scored in a 74-62 loss at Vandy last week, but five players have finished with double figures in wins over Florida and LSU to end the regular-season.
“Everyone is starting to get a feel for everything,” Ulis said. “Everyone is doing their job and coming out confident. It feels like we are putting everything together at the right time. Skal is stepping up, Alex and Marcus are playing big. Everyone is starting to do their job.”
Things didn’t come easy for Labissiere, who struggled against conference teams before scoring 29 points in the final two league games. In addition to his 18 points against LSU, Labissiere grabbed nine rebounds and collected six blocks, both career highs.
Much to Calipari’s delight, Labissiere said his recent success has come from within.
“I believe in me more to succeed,” he said. “Early on, my confidence was there, I was just going through a tough time.”
Now that the regular-season is part of history, Calipari isn’t sure what awaits in the postseason, but knows the Wildcats are better equipped to make a return to the Final Four.
“The best thing we can hope for is the best version of ourselves, a confident team and an empowered team,” he said. “Whatever that means, it means. We’ve got to live with what that means. There are other really good teams in the country. But right now, if there are 15 teams better than us, I’ve got to see them. I mean, we’re pretty good right now.”
Ulis said the timing couldn’t be better for the Wildcats to be clicking on all cylinders and is anxious to see what the future holds.
“It is perfect timing going into the SEC Tournament,” he said. “We’re playing teams that we know. We just have to go into every game and fight.”
Notes
* Kentucky honored Poythress prior to tipoff and the senior forward finished with 12 points on six-of-seven shooting from the field. Poythress has scored double figures in three of the past four games.
* Marcus Lee finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season.
* Derek Willis returned after missing three games because of an ankle injury. Willis hit two 3s and finished with six points.
* Tyler Ulis had a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 14 assists.
Game tracker: Kentucky vs. winner of Mississippi-Alabama, SEC Tournament, 7 p.m., Friday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com