By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
John Calipari hopes Kentucky regains its competitive edge going into Saturday’s showdown at Georgia.
The 13th-ranked Wildcats (21-5, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) appear to have regained their swagger and have won three straight since a mid-season collapse that featured three losses in four games. The lone win during that stretch was a 90-81 overtime triumph over the Bulldogs (15-11, 6-7) on Jan. 31 at Rupp Arena.
Calipari’s squad is coming off an 83-58 rout of Tennessee, one of the team’s best defensive performances against a conference opponent since a 99-76 beatdown of Ole Miss in the league opener on Dec. 29 in Oxford.
Despite the outing against the Vols, Calipari isn’t convinced the Wildcats have gotten out of their funk and would like to see his team become more competitive, especially in practice.
“It’s going to take us time to get out of that,” Calipari said. “It’s as much of mindsets, habits and all of those kinds of things. Competitiveness. Like, the second unit went right at the first unit (Thursday) and won. They won two or three different times and the white (team) had to run. That’s what you want. You want them to compete in practice because that’s what they’re going to have to do in the game.”
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In the last game against the Bulldogs, the Wildcats were without point guard De’Aaron Fox who sat out because of an undisclosed illness. Fox has played in the past four games and scored 13 points and handed out six assists in the win over the Volunteers. Unlike the first outing between the two foes, the presence of Fox will be a boost for the Wildcats and problematic for the hosts.
“Fox is obviously another threat on the floor, another player they have to worry about,” Kentucky freshman forward Wenyen Gabriel said. “Maybe it will change their game plan and things like that. It’s definitely a positive for us.”
With an illness and an ankle sprain now behind him, Fox said he’s “starting to feel better” and regaining his confidence.
“I’m just trying to get back in my groove,” Fox said. “It just happens when everyone gets hurt or gets sick. The physical aspect of their game goes down a little bit, but you build it back up.”
Gabriel said Fox has been equally impressive in practice, especially on the defensive end of the court, an area Fox knows he needs to improve on going into the final five games of the regular season.
“He’s been bringing a lot of energy,” Gabriel said. “I’m really impressed with his defensive energy he’s been bringing back in practice. He’s clapping on defense. It’s been a real big part of our reboot process.”
Kentucky has won nine of the past 10 games against the Bulldogs, who have posted two straight victories, since suffering three consecutive setbacks, including the nine-point overtime loss to Kentucky. In its last outing, Georgia posted a 79-72 win over Mississippi State.
“It’s going to be a hard game,” Calipari said. “It’s been sold out for three months, four months. I saw the tape of them and Mississippi. It wasn’t a packed stadium. Well, it’s going to be for this game. And so, it doesn’t matter how they play. We know who they are, how they like to play. I imagine whatever that is, they’ll be at their best. And we’ll see.”
Despite the Bulldogs’ recent struggles, Fox is expecting a close encounter but hopes the Wildcats can emulate the performance they had against Tennessee.
“We know it’s going to be tough, but it’s something we know we can do,” Fox said. “It’s not impossible for us to do and hopefully if we’re able to play the same way we played last game I think it can happen again.”
Although road games can produce tense moments, Gabriel doesn’t mind the pressure.
“I like the challenge,” Gabriel said. “Every road game is a challenge. That’s what makes us better.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Georgia, Saturday, 6 p.m. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter