John Calipari shares message of motivation to Kentucky before SEC Tournament

Kentucky will begin its postseason journey in Nashville during the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday. They’ll get things started against Texas A&M.

The Wildcats arrived at the tournament Wednesday evening while the first round was still underway. Thursday morning before the second round was the first time Kentucky was able to get in a small shoot around inside Bridgestone Arena.

During the abbreviated practice, head coach John Calipari gave some insight to his younger guys on what to expect this postseason.

“Game time, CBS, packed arenas — you guys are used to this,” Calipari told his team Thursday. “Just play this like it’s a regular game and you’ll be fine. And I’m telling you, just so you know, every tournament that you play like this, do you know what the hardest game is? The first one. And then it’s a downhill run. I’m talking [the SEC] Tournament and the [NCAA] Tournament. That hardest game is that first one.”

#SECTourney 🔜 pic.twitter.com/XHcm3Xl1eF

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 14, 2024

Kentucky and Texas A&M met one time during the regular season, seeing the Aggies get the best of the then-No. 6 Wildcats 97-92 in College Station. This was before Zvonimir Ivisic was cleared to play for UK and Adou Thiero was not available for that game, either. For the Aggies, Wade Taylor IV dropped 31 points to help Texas A&M secure the home win.

That was the only time during the regular season that the Aggies scored more than 90 points in a single game. Kentucky has done it in four of its last five games, including scoring performances of 117 and 110 points in a single game. Most recently, the Wildcats defeated the SEC regular season champion Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville last weekend.

They’re consistently scoring at a rate no other Kentucky team under John Calipari has coached in Lexington. It remains to be seen how their defense, which has been heavily criticized all year long, will hold up in March.

For the Aggies, they haven’t lost in the month of March and after Thursday’s second-round SEC Tournament win over Ole Miss, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Texas A&M as one of his last four teams in. A win against Kentucky — which will likely take another 90+ point team scoring performance — would firmly secure Texas A&M within the NCAA Tournament’s bubble.

Tip-off between the Wildcats and Aggies is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. ET live from inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The game will air live on the SEC Network, where the winner advance to the semifinals on Saturday.