LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky coach John Calipari jokingly double-checked with a Southeastern Conference official on Monday when told the Wildcats get to spend the next week at Rupp Arena after spending most of the last month on the road.
“Are you sure we’re at home?” Calipari said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
When assured by the official on the conference call that the 22nd-ranked Wildcats wouldn’t have to board a plane for at least seven days, Calipari exhaled.
He knows his team, however, can’t afford to relax.
The Wildcats suffered another road loss Saturday at Vanderbilt. The setback shook the team’s confidence so badly senior center Josh Harrellson felt the need to call a players only meeting shortly after returning from Nashville.
The meeting wasn’t to clear the air as much as it was to help the Wildcats regain their focus. Another late-game meltdown against the Commodores dropped Kentucky (17-7, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) to 1-5 when forced to don the road blues in SEC play.
The Wildcats will try to get some of its confidence back on Tuesday against erratic Mississippi State (13-11, 5-5), but the sting of letting another one get away on the road still lingers.
Kentucky, as it has done all season, had its chances. A 3-pointer by Brandon Knight gave the Wildcats a 66-64 lead with 5:39 to play, but the Commodores responded with a game-turning 11-3 run over the next three minutes thanks in large part to three costly Kentucky turnovers.
“We can’t let three plays take us down,” said freshman forward Terrence Jones. “It felt like everybody’s energy went away just because they took the lead back.”
Energy at Rupp has never been a problem under Calipari. Kentucky is 29-0 at home during his tenure, including a decisive win over Tennessee last week, a victory he chalked up to his team’s decision to get serious in practice.
“We have to take the approach we took against Tennessee, let’s have sense of urgency about our preparation,” Calipari said. “Hopefully we’ve grown through this stretch of games.”
The process, however, has been painful.
All but one of Kentucky’s five league losses have been by four points or less and all have followed a similar pattern: The Wildcats scramble back from a deficit only to falter in the end.
While Calipari has chalked some of the problems up to maturity issues and sometimes selfish play from his freshmen-laden squad. His players say Kentucky’s problems may be something a little more basic.
“It has to do with pretty much being nervous of losing when it’s so close and so little time,” Jones said. “It’s just something we’ve got to overcome by playing and not looking at the score.”
The Wildcats sent each other a simple message during the team meeting. Don’t bother pointing fingers and do a better job at blocking out the distractions that come with playing in college basketball’s all-time winningest program.
“We’re definitely frustrated but we know we’re a really good team and if we play to our capability we’ll be fine,” said freshman guard Jarrod Polson.
Calipari isn’t particularly alarmed, even if Kentucky has matched the loss total from he’s endured over the last two seasons combined.
His team’s problems have been apparent for weeks. Depth is an issue. Consistent play, particularly from freshman guard Doron Lamb and junior forward Darius Miller, remains an obstacle. Yet Kentucky remains solidly in the NCAA tournament picture and with four home games over the next two weeks, there are plenty of opportunities to get some momentum heading into March.
“Other than the top five or seven teams everyone has had a lull in their season,” he said. “We’ve hit ours, now we have to bust through it.”
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