By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
John Calipari knows the regular season is winding down. Although the Wildcats have won five straight going into Saturday’s showdown against Florida, the Kentucky coach wants to the Wildcats to focus on becoming more consistent.
Calipari reminded the 11th-ranked Wildcats (23-5, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) they are “not where we need to be” following a closer-than-expected 72-62 victory at Missouri earlier this week.
“We gotta start getting better and I also said (in the locker room after the game) we got guys in the room that aren’t playing confident enough,” Calipari said.
Kentucky center Bam Adebayo, who scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in the win over the Tigers, wasn’t surprised by the close encounter against struggling Missouri.
“Everywhere we play, home or away, it’s everybody’s Super Bowl,” Adebayo said. “So they’re trying to beat us and we came out slow at first and then we got going and we won.”
Calipari likes the way Adebayo has adjusted despite playing on a guard-oriented team.
“He’s on a team where we’ve got some guards like shooting balls now,” Calipari said. “He just keeps playing. He doesn’t say much. And it’s on me to make sure we’re throwing him the ball more.”
Despite several close calls during the past two weeks, Kentucky senior Mychal Mulder said the key for the Wildcats will be to “play hard, fight, battle and maintain focus for 40 minutes,” starting with Saturday’s contest against the Gators.
“I think we’re really getting close to that point (turning the corner), (we’re) not quite there yet, but we have strides to go and I feel like we’re working in the right direction,” he said “I think they’re looking for consistency in that aspect. Just being able to be the team that is fun to watch, the team that everybody knows we have the potential to come and be that team for 40 minutes instead of just 30.”
Forward to Florida
Kentucky hasn’t lost since an 88-66 setback to No. 13 Florida on Feb. 4 in Gainesville and the two teams will meet again Saturday in a highly-anticipated showdown that likely will determine the league’s regular-season champion.
The Gators (23-5, 13-2) carry a nine-game winning streak into the contest and are coming off a 81-66 rout of South Carolina earlier this week.
‘We’re going to have to come out with intensity,” Adebayo said. “We’re going to have to (play hard) and we’ll see where this thing goes.”
South Carolina coach Frank Martin, whose Gamecocks are just one of two teams that have defeated the Gators in league play this season, said Florida’s success isn’t a fluke.
“They haven’t won however many games they have won by mistake,” Martin said Tuesday. “They’re an elite basketball team.”
Technically speaking
Calipari said he didn’t use profanity after he was whistled for a technical foul during the second half of his team’s win at Missouri but wasn’t innocent with his behavior.
“I did not swear, but I did deserve it. I did deserve it, I’ll just say that,” he said. “But I did not swear. I don’t swear. I was at mass (Tuesday) morning with all of the kids at the Catholic church, begging forgiveness knowing I was going to get a technical tonight. Please, in advance I’m asking for forgiveness.”
Just as he received forgiveness, Calipari offered the same in response to a question television reporter Laura Rutledge asked during a halftime interview last Tuesday night. Her question centered around chants being yelled by Missouri’s student section.
“She came over to apologize after the game,” he said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I have no idea.’ If the other team, if I walk in the building and they’re not cussing me, booing me, I will retire. It’s time to retire. If I walk in an opponent’s court and they’re cheering me, either you should fire me or I should be retired. She looked at me and said, ‘I apologize.’ ‘What? I don’t even know what you’re talking about. We just Missouri, I’m happy as heck. Beat it, you’re good. Don’t worry about me.’”
Gametracker: Florida at Kentucky, 2 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: CBS (Channel 27), 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