Chris Livingston says Tennessee game helped Kentucky beat Mississippi State

Kentucky has had its back against the wall several times this season. While many don’t like being under that kind of pressure, though, freshman forward Chris Livingston said their experience with it actually helped them win this week at Mississippi State.

Livingston pointed out the similarities between the Wildcat’s play and mindset from this week in Starkville and January’s win in Knoxville over Tennessee. He said they entered both with an identical frame of mind and, in turn, left them both with comparable results.

“In the Tennessee game, we were kind of, like, in the same situation, the same mindset. It wasn’t a must-win but we went in with nothing to lose,” said Livingston. “It was a refuse to lose mindset, a refuse to lose attitude. That’s the energy we played with and it’s what we played with today.”

Kentucky went into Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14th after Alabama blew them out by 26 and South Carolina upset them in Rupp Arena. They also entered as a historic underdog too. In the end, though, they found a way to knock off the No. 5 Volunteers.

The scenario was almost identical this week inside Humphrey Coliseum. Arkansas had just handled the Wildcats by 15 in Lexington. Then they stumbled again on the road against a Georgia team that’s currently in 10th place in the SEC. Still, with their postseason hopes on the line, Kentucky did it again with a win against a surging Bulldog squad.

The comparison is eerily similar but, for Livingston and Kentucky, the most important piece of it is their response. With a lot at stake, they’ve answered the bell at least twice now. The Wildcats will just have to continue doing so, including this weekend in a rematch with the Vols, in order to truly feel good about their NCAA Tournament eligibility.