How does Kentucky continue to come up big in key moments? "We earn our confidence."

Time after time, game after game this season, Kentucky has pulled a rabbit out of the hat with wins many would deem unexpected. Not that the Cats aren’t capable, but simply considering the circumstances, entering the matchups as underdogs or shorthanded due to injury, going into a hostile environment or traveling thousands of miles away from home. Maybe it’s a major contrast in style of play, taking on opponents with reputations for being tougher and more physical.

In six out of seven tries, however, Kentucky has done it, racking up a half-dozen top-15 victories with one slip-up — that one being a five-point loss to No. 4 Alabama at home, a game where both teams played extremely well with only one able to come out on top. In other words, the Cats have never failed living up to the moment this season, answering the bell over and over and over.

How is that possible for a group that never played together entering the year, one maybe not as talented on paper as others with superstar draft prospects and All-Americans? Mark Pope says it’s the team’s confidence both in themselves as players and each other as teammates.

“The truth is, we earn our confidence. We really earn it. We do it a couple ways,” he said Thursday. “You earn your confidence with your work. You earn your confidence with your sweat equity. You earn your confidence with your commitment. You earn your confidence with your togetherness.”

A lot of that has been in the face of adversity, times when the odds have been stacked against them with their backs against the wall, in the eye of the storm. That’s when they’ve found their peace and come together the closest.

It’s not necessarily an unwavering belief in the players by the coaches, but rather an unwavering believe in the players by the players. They’re ready to go to war together.

“There’s something beautiful when you’re in a hostile environment and maybe things have gone wrong and you have some doubts in your mind,” Pope said. “One of the great things about a team sport — and if you’ve ever had this experience, you’ll know what I mean. It might be as a family member, also. It might be as a team member in a business. It could be in any organization. But when you’re in that moment where things are tough and it’s hard times and you’ve got some doubts, you’re not sure and seems like the whole world is rising around you.

“When you can be in a huddle and you’re not sure yourself, but you can look around at the guys that you believe you can count on, you’re like, ‘You know what? I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m glad that guy is in the foxhole with me. I’m glad that that guy’s got my back. I know that guy is going to bring it today.’ You look around in your little circle, and you can feel that it’s one of the great things in sports.”

It’s not some magic wand Pope has flicked to bring his guys together or a specific leadership quality he has that no one else does. He just found a selfless group of players with one common goal, understanding the assignment the same way he does. They’re likeminded individuals who lean on their faith and work knowing if they trust both things, they’ll come out the other side on top more often than not.

“I think it has very little to do with what I do,” Pope said. “It has all the things to do with what our guys have done, with how hard they’ve worked, and how on and off the court to be committed to each other and how much they care about this. I think that’s where you glean your confidence from as you work.”

“I’m in love with this term ‘Godfidence.’ There’s a little sense of guys on our team, when you can work your way through all the stuff, and you can stay focused on bigger-picture things, I think there’s a lot of lot of confidence that comes from that, too. A lot of that comes from the character of our guys.

“Man, we have really special guys. We’re far from perfect — we make mistakes, we miss shots, we do all the things — but our resilience quotient is pretty special.”