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John Calipari shares progress in empowering Kentucky players

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•02/26/23•

BarkleyTruax

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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Kentucky is playing its best basketall of the season with one week left in the regular season. After stealing Auburn‘s lunch money on Saturday, the Wildcats are poised to make a deep conference tournament run.

Head coach John Calipari credits his team’s recent success to their collective attitude over the past month.

“We’re on that rise. And at this time of the year, you’re trying to have them empowered. They’re calling plays in huddles now. Cason [Wallace] saying, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ Boom. The minute they say that to me I go, ‘Let’s do it.’ Because it’s off my plate and now it’s on their plate to make it work. And I want that,” Calipari said postgame. “Defensively, the same. We talked about changing and they went, ‘No, let us keep playing this way. Fine. Let’s go.'”

Kentucky moved up nine spots to No. 20 in the latest NET rankings and boast a 20-9 record with two games remaining. Morale is at an all-time high after being on the bubble less than two weeks ago following back-to-back losses, inlcuding a Quad 4 loss to South Carolina. They’re firmly in the field of 68 now.

Still, four-straight Quad 1 victories after starting the season 1-7 against similar competition is impressive to say the least and cancels out the loss to the Gamecocks. Calipari seems to have his guys ready for March.

“You want ’em empowered. You want ’em confident,” Calipari said. “But just as important you want ’em to have a ball playing. Even when it gets rough and the other team makes a run, you got to have a ball playing basketball. Especially this time of the year. Because you don’t want it to end.

“Refuse to lose. Doesn’t mean you’re winning every game. It means your mentality of how you’re playing. You never stop. The clock may run out on you. But you just keep coming. And these guys are embodying that right now.”

Kentucky will round out its regular season with its home finale against Vanderbilt on Wednesday before travelling to Arkansas on Saturday. Tip-off between the Wildcats and Commodores is set for 7 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.