Kentucky finished the regular season with 10 losses and tied for sixth in the SEC after a grueling run through the league gauntlet which saw multiple players lost for the long stretches or the remainder of the campaign due to injuries.
Because of that, the Wildcats will not be one of the favored teams when the NCAA Tournament tips off next week, but that doesn’t matter, UK head coach Mark Pope said on Sunday after the brackets were finally revealed.
In Lexington, the standard never changes.
“We’re fully aware of the expectations here,” Pope said. “That’s why we all came.
“The reason you go through the season is to prepare for this particular moment… We want to find a way to go win this NCAA Tournament, and we can’t wait to go do it.”
Kentucky (22-11) earned a 3 seed for the tourney and was placed in the Midwest Region. The Cats will begin their journey on Friday in Milwaukee, Wisc., against 14-seed Troy (23-10), champion of the Sun Belt Conference.
“I’ve seen them a little bit this year,” Pope said. “… Scott Cross is a great coach who’s been doing this for a long time at a high level. I haven’t gotten into the nuts and the bolts of them yet, but it’s a good team.”
Should UK win its opener, it would play Sunday against the winner of 6-seed Illinois (21-12) and the play-in game between Texas (19-15) and Xavier (21-11) for the 11 seed.
While the goal is to cut down the nets and deliver the ninth NCAA championship to Big Blue Nation, Pope says there’s no chance the Cats get caught looking ahead. Kentucky has lost four of its last five NCAA tourney games and has not made it out of the first weekend since the 2019 season.
“We’ll spend the next five days laser-focused on one thing,” he said, “and that’s beating Troy.”
Added UK grad senior wing Koby Brea: “The most important thing we can do is look forward to the first one.. Taking it one game at a time is the most important thing we can do.”
Despite being shellacked by Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament — a 29-point loss Friday night that led to some much-needed “therapeutic” moments upon returning to Lexington — Pope sounded positive about his team’s chances in the Big Dance.
A big part of that optimism was the good news received on Lamont Butler’s left-shoulder injury. It was not as bad as originally feared, and the grad senior point guard is expected to play on Friday in the Cats’ NCAA opener.
“It matters,” Pope said. “He’s a veteran, and he’s been through it at the highest level. He means so much to our team outside the tournament and even more inside the tournament. That’s why we were as cautious as we were in the SEC Tournament.
“He’s been in first-round games in the tournament and he’s been in Final Four games in the tournament. He’s such a steadying force for us.”
Said Butler: “I’m feeling good, a lot better than I did the last couple of days. I’m just excited to go out there and have a chance to reach the Final Four and win a championship at Kentucky. I’m really excited, and I can’t wait to get out there.”
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