4-Point Play: The calm before the storm...

We’re officially boots down on the Plains, the KSR crew arriving Friday afternoon ahead of Kentucky‘s matchup at Auburn. Campers are out in full force preparing for an all-time environment inside Neville Arena on Saturday, just as they have been since Wednesday evening.

It’s going to be a big one, folks. A statement game and opportunity for the Cats.

Let’s go through some late thoughts tonight on 4-Point Play.

Auburn’s gameplan doesn’t change

If you’re expecting Auburn to come in with a special gameplan for Kentucky because it is Kentucky, you’re mistaken — that’s what they’re saying, at least. And I suppose it’s fair. They’ve earned the right to be cocky sitting at No. 6 in the NET with a 20-5 record, 13-0 at home.

The Tigers are favorites over the Wildcats for a reason. They’ve got the home-court advantage inside Neville Arena and they’re rolling as a team, one of the hottest in the SEC.

Nothing is changing on their end.

“The Jungle is gonna be a big help with that,” Jaylin Williams said of slowing down Kentucky’s high-powered offense. “They are a good team. They’re young, they’re talented. A few McDonald’s All-Americans and guys that can really go. It’s the same gameplan it’s been all year.”

“We can’t play at a different team’s speed. We’ve got to play Auburn basketball,” Tre Donaldson added. “I feel like when we play Auburn basketball, we’re at our best. As a team, we can’t play at another team’s speed. We got to play Auburn basketball and live with the results.”

The Tigers rank inside the top 20 nationally in nine different categories: field-goal percentage defense (2nd, 37.9), bench points (4th, 35.8), blocks (6th, 6.0), scoring margin (7th, +16.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (9th, 1.73), assists (10th, 18.0), free throws (13th, 17.8), 3-point field goal defense (20th, 29.8) and scoring offense (20th, 83.1). And they’ve done it with a 9-5 record in Quad 1 and 2 matchups while remaining a perfect 11-0 in Quads 3 and 4 — no bad losses.

They’ll be looking to bring it again with the Cats in town.

“Kentucky is still the gold standard in our league.”

That’s not to say Auburn isn’t expecting a test. Bruce Pearl certainly isn’t overlooking the team he feels is and will continue to be the measuring stick in the SEC. Kentucky will always be Kentucky.

“Kentucky is still the gold standard in our league, they always will be. That’s never going to change,” Pearl said ahead of the matchup. “If you want to be relevant in the world of college basketball and want to be relevant in the SEC, you have to beat Kentucky every now and then. We were able to do it in my second year, which gave us some wind in our sails, some hope that we could get this thing going.”

The tenth-year coach on the Plains raved about the Wildcats’ offensive firepower with five double-figure scorers, singling out Antonio Reeves as a guy who has “always killed us,” Rob Dillingham as a “one-man scoring machine,” Reed Sheppard as a “dynamic point guard, great shooter, great playmaker, great patience and poise” — you get the picture.

“Kentucky is really good. They are one of the best offensive teams in the country,” he said. “… This is the best three-point shooting team that John Calipari’s had, in my opinion. There are three or four guys out there that if they can see it, they can make it. They are a really, really tough cover.

“… . Kentucky isn’t going to be a team that anybody wants to see in postseason play because they are so dangerous.”

Coach Cal keeps the faith

It was easy to hit the panic button when Kentucky lost three of four and four of six. The team was regressing defensively while opponents quickly learned you could slow down this potent offense by mucking things up and getting physical with these young Cats.

As those sirens went off following the Gonzaga loss, John Calipari reminded his team to trust the process and focus on the end goal, cut out the outside noise.

That gesture meant a lot to the players in the locker room looking for hope as the regular season winds down.

“Knowing he’s got the confidence in us to keep going. After we lost to Gonzaga, he told us we were good,” DJ Wagner said. “He said he still had faith in us, still had confidence in us. That means a lot. Hearing that from him puts confidence in ourselves, that gives us confidence.”

Instead of panicking, the team used it as a learning opportunity and turned it into a double-digit victory over Ole Miss.

“That’s what comes with the process. You win some, you lose some, but you’ve got to keep fighting no matter what,” Wagner added. “We went over the mistakes we made in that game and really learned from it. That’s the most important thing when it comes to losing, learning as much from it as you can. Seeing how you can improve on the next game.”

Justin Edwards feels himself turning the corner

The former five-star wing hit a stretch of nine consecutive games falling short of the double-figure mark the entire month of January and into February. Then he responded with two in three games, going for 17 at Vanderbilt and 12 in a win over Ole Miss while still putting up eight points, five rebounds and two steals in the loss to Gonzaga.

Slowly but surely, Edwards is starting to put things together at the right time. He feels himself breaking through — and not a minute too soon.

“My teammates believing in me. Me and Coach Cal talked all the time about staying the course. He believes in me and knows how hard I work, so he tells me all the time it’s not going to happen on my time,” he said. “I feel like I’m starting to turn the corner. … I talked to my mom and I had a mental health coach, that helped a lot. But it really was my coaches and teammates believing in me. They told me to stay the course, you know? Not letting negative thoughts take control of my mind, outweighing the bad with the good.”

Part of it is style of play, doing what got him going a bit earlier in the season with “off-ball cutting and rebounding,” he says. His teammates believe it’s been his positivity while remaining patient with the process.

“He’s been very positive throughout the whole process, but he’s always been positive, keeping his head up,” Wagner said. “I feel like if you’ve got that mindset, something good is bound to happen for you, no matter what. No matter how you’re playing or what you’re going through, if you play with a positive mindset, you’re going to be good.

“He’s been playing good. In my eyes, he’s been playing good all season, but him keeping that positive mindset has let him have the games he’s been having.”