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John Calipari shares his first-half message about toughness in physical game vs. Kansas State

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•03/19/23•

BarkleyTruax

Prov-192110
Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky vs. Kansas State has the makings to be one of the most physical games of the NCAA Tournament thus far. UK head coach John Calipari revealed his message to his team after seeing how aggressive the game has turned out to be.

“The game is really physical, and if you’re not ready for a rock fight you can’t win the game,” Calipari said during a timeout in the first half. “I’m telling them [Kansas State] is grabbing arms, so you have to be strong with the ball. They won’t call that. Be strong, what do you want me to do?”

Calipari also said he’s enjoying what Kentucky has been able to do off pick and rolls for Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe. He had seven points and seven rebounds during the under-eight media timeout.

One thing Kentucky doesn’t have to worry about during the game — the Big Blue Nation’s presence. Kentucky is more than well represented in the stands. Calipari spoke to Kentucky’s fanbase after defeating Providence in the first round.

“Our fans travel. We’ve got great fans. Now, they’re engaged and, you know, they live and die with wins and losses. You have some of them that are out there a little bit, but we’ve got the greatest fans,” head coach John Calipari said. “They travel. They’re excited. I’ve got a stack of letters this year like this when we struggled to hang in, and some of them were unbelievable. I hand-wrote notes to every one of them because that’s our fans.

“This group will go crazy, and there’s this group coming over and sending you letters. ‘Stay the course. You’re doing this the right way. You have these kids. Stay the course. You keep your faith.’ So, our fans, travel. Like, I would have been surprised if we didn’t have this kind of crowd.”

Kentucky is trying to make its first Sweet 16 since 2019, while Kansas State is looking to do the same for the first time since 2018. These two teams met in the 2018 Sweet 16 where K-State stunned Kentucky before losing in the Elite Eight to Loyala Chicago during their historic NCAA Tournament run.

Catch the rest of the Round of 32 matchup between K-State and Kentucky live on CBS.