Kentucky has one goal in mind going into the postseason.
“We’re just trying to win every game,” guard Jamal Murray said. “We’re going to go in there with a refuse-to-lose mentality and everybody is locked in and ready to play. We’re just anxious to get on the court.”
The wait for Murray and the rest of his teammates will end at 7 p.m. Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Wildcats (23-8) take on the winner of Thursday night’s second-round matchup between No. 7 seed Ole Miss and 10th seeded Alabama.
In John Calipari’s seven seasons as coach, Kentucky has won three conference tournament titles, with two of those coming in Music City in 2010 and 2015. The Wildcats also captured the tourney title in 2011 and have compiled a 13-3 record in league tournament games under Calipari’s guidance.
Although making his first appearance in the postseason, Murray has an idea of what to expect in a win or lose environment.
“We’re ready to fight and basically, fight for our life,” Murray said. “Everybody is ready, motivated and anxious to get out there and beat the other team. We just want to prove what we got.”
The Wildcats won seven of their last nine games and shared the regular-season conference title with Texas A&M. The two setbacks were a 79-77 overtime loss at the Aggies and a 74-62 letdown at Vanderbilt. Kentucky carries a two-game winning streak into the postseason and is coming off a 94-77 rout of LSU.
The loss to Texas A&M cost the Wildcats the conference crown outright, but sophomore guard Tyler Ulis said the Wildcats aren’t dwelling on the past.
“(We) really don’t think about it much, sharing the championship,” Ulis said. “We’re just going to focus on the games we have to focus on and who we have to play.”
Ulis and Murray, both first-team all-conference performers, have supplied a bulk of the scoring load this season, but the Wildcats have gotten some help lately, especially with the recent emergence of Skal Labissiere. The sophomore center has started the past two games and scored 29 points, including 18 against LSU in the regular-season finale. In addition to his final scoring tally, Labissiere added a career-high nine rebounds and six blocks in the rout of the Tigers.
“It’s a lot easier,” Ulis said. “I don’t have to look to score as much. With Skal playing like he’s playing, we can feed him the ball (and) we have a post presence. With Alex (Poythress) playing in the post (and) Marcus (Lee) doing his job, rebounding and blocking shots, it just helps our team and allows us to do our job and just win basketball games.”
Murray agreed and hasn’t been surprised by Labissiere’s late surge.
“We knew he was capable of this the whole time,” Murray said. “He just lacked confidence before, and now, he’s a lot more confident in himself and he’s hitting shots at a high percentage. He’s getting rebounds. That’s something we haven’t seen him do yet. We just want to focus on getting him better every day and staying consistent.”
Ulis said the timing of developing a post presence will help the Wildcats in the postseason.
“It’s the perfect time for them to come on, because it’s March,” Ulis said. “Any minute is going to be win or go home, so with them stepping up, it’s big for our team. Everybody is doing their job now and I feel like we can make a run.”
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com