It’s crunch time for Kentucky.
Following an 88-73 loss to Arkansas Tuesday night, the Wildcats are in desperation mode just to finish in the upper echelon of the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky could finish anywhere from third to eighth in the final regular-season league standings.
Prior to the loss to the Razorbacks, Kentucky had won six straight conference games and were in a position to make a serious run for one of the top four seeds in the league tournament that includes a double-bye. That all changed after a 15-point home loss to the Razorbacks.
The next two games — both on the road, starting Saturday at Georgia and Wednesday at Mississippi State — are winnable for the Wildcats. However, Kentucky closes out February with a home game against Tennessee (Feb. 18), a road game at Florida (Feb. 22) and home game with Auburn (Feb. 25).
Currently, Kentucky is one game behind Tennessee and Texas A&M is two games ahead of the Wildcats in the conference standings.
It’s possible the Wildcats could open the league tournament on a Thursday in Nashville. During the past 25 years, Kentucky has played in the second round twice and is 4-4 when starting the tournament before the quarterfinal round.
The bigger picture is the NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats are currently listed as one of the last two teams into the Big Dance, considering the team’s resume that includes just one win over a Top 10 opponent.
A play-in game to open the NCAA Tournament in Dayton is not out of the equation.
According to ESPN bracket analyst Joe Lunardi, the Wildcats don’t have a “great resume” and cautions against Kentucky overlooking the Bulldogs this weekend in Athens.
“Going to Georgia, you’d think, ‘Hey, this is going to be a walkover,’ but it’s also the kind of game that can absolutely torpedo your season. If I’m a member of Big Blue Nation, I am a little bit apprehensive heading down to Athens.”
Cason Wallace said the Wildcats will move forward after the loss to the Razorbacks.
“We’re going to learn from this,” Wallace said. “We’re not going to hang our heads on it… we’re not going to let this define how the rest of our season goes. I feel like it’s going to help us stay more sharp and mentally locked in down the road.”
The Wildcats don’t have much time and will need to play with a greater sense of urgency down the stretch. They will need big performances from Oscar Tshiebwe, who has failed to score double figures in the past two games.
Coach John Calipari is optimistic Tshiebwe will get back on track.
“As a coach, you go with what got you there, and it was a bigger picture for Oscar than just this game. It was like, let’s get him going just to get him right,” Calipari said.
There’s time, but it’s running out on the Wildcats.
Keith Taylor is the sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com and via Twitter at keithtaylor21