By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Despite the loaded South Region bracket, Kentucky isn’t worried. The Wildcats are taking a game-by-game approach into the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky (29-5), the No. 2 seed behind North Carolina, faces newcomer Northern Kentucky University in the opening round of the tourney at 9:30 p.m. Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Norse (24-10) will be making their first appearance in the Big Dance after winning the Horizon League Tournament. Although looking past the opener would be easy for Kentucky, Wildcats coach John Calipari is dwelling on Northern Kentucky.
“We won’t do anything, I won’t, beyond Northern Kentucky,” Calipari said. “The staff will. I don’t want to hear about it, I don’t want to know. I’m worried about Northern Kentucky. We’ll see what they do and how they play and what we have to do.
Kentucky, which has locked up three No. 1 seeds in Calipari’s eight seasons as coach, is a second-seed for the first time in his tenure with the Wildcats. Kentucky has made seven trips to the NCAA Tournament, complete with one national championship and four Final Four appearances.
“We got a great seed and we’re ready to play,” Kentucky senior Dominique Hawkins said. “We’re going to be ready for whoever we have to play, but we’re just going to focus on the teams we need to focus on.”
Kansas (Midwest), Villanova (East) and Gonzaga (West) joined North Carolina (South) as the the top seeds in the 68-field tourney that begins with four play-in games on Tuesday in Dayton. Calipari, whose team was a No. 4 seed and lost in the second round to Indiana last season in Des Moines, said seeding in the tournament is “really important if you want to advance.”
“If you don’t think it’s important, you have never coached,” he said. “You never been a part of this. So, other than a one seed, which that little, the hiccup in the middle of the season, but, again, we lost to Kansas and UCLA and Louisville on the road and Florida on the road and, I mean, the Tennessee game on the road. Other than that, who else beats us? Oh, no one. I mean, we took care of business for a young team.”
A potential second-round matchup for the Wildcats could be Wichita State, which lost to Kentucky in the second round three years ago when the Shockers were a No. 1 seed. The Wildcats then made an improbable run to the Final Four, losing to Connecticut in the National Championship game. Wichita State is seeded 10th and will take on Dayton to open the tourney. If the tourney field holds firm during the opening week, Kentucky and North Carolina would meet in the South Region finals in Memphis.
“Can you imagine a couple brackets harder than ours?” Calipari said. “Now this is my eighth year. It’s not been close. Called it Murderer’s Row and Insane Row and so they say – I haven’t looked at them, but.”
Although rematches with the Tar Heels and No. 3 seed UCLA are possible during the next two weeks, Derek Willis is concentrating on the Norse and nobody else.
“I think our main focus right now is Northern Kentucky and after that we go from there and see who our next opponent is and get ready for them,” Willis said. “That’s how we take all the games like that.”
Kentucky defeated North Carolina 103-100 in a epic showdown in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 17, but lost to UCLA 97-92 in Lexington on Dec. 3. Aside from a mid-season slump that featured three losses in four games, the Wildcats have been on a tear and carry an 11-game winning streak into the second leg of the postseason.
Kentucky won three straight to claim its third consecutive Southeastern Conference Tournament title last weekend, a run that ended with an 82-65 victory over Arkansas in the finale on Sunday.
“I think our whole team (is) collectively starting to come together,” Willis said. “I think we’re starting to, like I said, hit the incline, starting to peak at the right moment and we can take it as far as we want to go.”
Like Willis, Hawkins said the Wildcats are starting to peak at the right time, especially defensively.
“I feel like defensive wise we’ve been stopping the best scorers and making them take tough shots. Offensively, we’ve been giving it to the guy with the hot hand.”
With a season-long winning streak intact and little time to prepare, the Wildcats are ready for the next step.
“For us it’s just, ‘Let’s get started. Let’s get this first weekend and see what happens,’” Calipari said. “I’m not looking ahead. You guys know how I do this. We’ll focus on this weekend and see if we can be the best of that group and if we are, we’ll move on.”
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. Northern Kentucky, NCAA Tournament, Friday, 9:30 p.m. TV/Radio: CBS (Channel 27), 98.1 FM.
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
