By Keith Taylor
KyForward Senior Sports Writer
It’s not hard for Kentucky to ignore the significance of its Top 5 matchup against Kansas.
“We’re just looking at it as another game right now,” Kentucky senior guard Dominique Hawkins said Friday. “But we know that it’s going to be crazy in Rupp Arena and everybody’s attention is going to be on it.”
Coming off the first conference setback of the year — an 82-80 loss at Tennessee — the fourth-ranked Wildcats (17-3, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) step out of conference play and look to regroup against the Jayhawks, also coming off a loss. Kanas (18-2, 7-1) had an 18-game winning streak snapped in an 85-69 setback at West Virginia earlier this week in Morgantown, W. Va.
Kentucky freshman guard De’Aaron Fox felt more at ease after hearing the Jayhawks would be going into the matchup under the same circumstances, creating a level playing field between the two collegiate powerhouses.
“It made me feel better when I found out they lost, just so we’re not the only team coming off a loss,” he said. “If we both came off losses or if we both came off wins, it’s going to be a big game no matter what.”
Despite the hype surrounding the much-anticipated showdown between the two winningest teams in college basketball, Hawkins doesn’t think there will be any added pressure on the Wildcats to get their first win of the season against a Top 10 opponent and solidify its case for one of the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
“I just think we need to come into the game relaxed and just play the game that we’ve been playing early on during the season,” Hawkins said. “Whatever will happen at the end is what’s going to happen.”
Much like Hawkins, Kentucky freshman De’Aaron Fox is taking the same approach into the contest and isn’t spending much time dwelling on the matchup.
“We’re just going to take it as another game,” Fox said. “We know that everybody’s attention is on it. It’s a big game to everybody else, but it’s just another game for us, a regular-season game, and we just want to come out and compete.”
The outing will be the first for Fox against one of the premier programs in the country. Kansas’ backcourt is more veteran-laden, led by point guard Frank Mason III, who leads the team in scoring and is averaging 19.9 points per game. Fox is looking forward to going up against one of the most experienced point guards in the country.
“You obviously look forward to playing good players and good teams.” Fox said. “They got a lot of veterans that know what they’re doing. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”
Along with preparing for the Jayhawks, Fox and the Wildcats have focused on shoring up the basics since the narrow loss to the Volunteers. Fox said the Wildcats didn’t get caught looking ahead, but rather came out lackadaisical in Knoxville.
“We just didn’t come out with energy,” he said. “We didn’t really play well, they hit some tough shots and we lost the game. Right now we’re just getting back to detail. Just focusing on little things.”
Fox also isn’t going to get caught up in the moment in the team’s final non-conference encounter of the regular season.
“I mean, for me I’m not going to get geeked up. I know what Kansas is, they recruited me. I know about tradition. I know about all that,” he said. “It’s going to be a big game, but I just feel like you gotta stay level-headed and go through every game the same.”
Gametracker: Kansas at Kentucky, 6:15 p.m., Saturday. 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