The win Kentucky Basketball needed

It’s been a hard week for the state of Kentucky. It’s been a hard week for the Kentucky Basketball program. Really, it’s been a hard year and a half for the Cats, whose dream of making a run in the 2020 NCAA Tournament was snuffed out by the coronavirus. If we’re honest, the malaise in the fanbase has been there much longer, leading to a growing chorus of grumbles following last week’s loss to Notre Dame. Had the Cats lost big today, the grumbles would be deafening.

That’s why tonight’s 98-69 win over North Carolina was so needed. It’s the second-largest margin of victory in the series behind Kentucky’s 39-point win over the Tar Heels in 1950. Over the past week, the question was, “When was the last time you had fun watching Kentucky Basketball?” Unless you’re completely dead inside, today is the answer.

The Cats came out like their hair was on fire, jumping out to a 23-8 lead in the first ten minutes. Even with Oscar Tshiebwe on the bench with two fouls, the Cats survived, pushing the lead to 18 at the 4:21 mark. North Carolina cut that lead to 11 at half, but Kentucky responded to start the second, pushing the lead to 20 in just over five minutes.

Sahvir Wheeler’s redemption game

The best part is the player that needed redemption the most was the one to lead the way. After his worst game of the season at Notre Dame, Sahvir Wheeler stormed back, leading Kentucky in scoring with 26 points, 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and only two turnovers in 32 minutes. After watching his point guard hit shots in practice all week after missing them in South Bend, John Calipari challenged Wheeler to “do that shit in the game.” He did, going 12-15 from the floor. There was a blissful moment in the first half where he realized he could have his way with North Carolina and he went back to the well over and over, gashing the Tar Heels with delight.

“Sahvir hasn’t been close to that,” Calipari said. “He played throughout…The biggest thing I did prior to the game, individually and then in front of the team was, ‘Sahvir, lead us.’ It’s not based on how you’re playing, Sahvir. Lead us. If you’re playing great, lead us and get everyone involved. If you’re not making shots and you’re a little confused, lead us. Lead. And that’s what he did today.”

Eight assists for @sahvir_ tonight.

Dimes are kind of his thing. pic.twitter.com/8i3YdD7yDT

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) December 19, 2021

One of the big fears this season is how Kentucky will perform when Oscar Tshiebwe is on the bench. Oscar tried to do it all against Notre Dame but couldn’t compensate for his teammates getting beat to balls and missing shots. When Oscar headed to the bench with two fouls at the 12:37 mark, admit it, you gulped. Even with some odd lineups — Calipari is still tinkering — Kentucky survived. When Oscar returned in the second half, he asserted himself in the post, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds en route to his eighth double-double of the season.

“They’re going to have nightmares”

Before you book your tickets to New Orleans for the Final Four, let’s remember that North Carolina was not ranked. The Tar Heels are in their first year under Hubert Davis following Roy Williams’ retirement in April. That being said, North Carolina’s only losses this season were to ranked opponents, Purdue and Tennessee, and they had a 21-point win over then-No. 24 Michigan under their belt. Coming in, they were a formidable — albeit unexpected — blueblood foe…which makes the beatdown even better. If Kentucky was sleepwalking in South Bend last week, they were sprinting down the Vegas strip today, a sight for sore eyes. The swagger — which this team has only shown in glimpses vs. bad teams — was right there, on a very big stage.

“We need days like today every single time we step in and play basketball,” Tshiebwe said. “If we came out like this every single night, every single day, it’s going to be so tough for the people we go against. They’re going to have nightmares playing against us. It’s going to be good. We’re going to go tough, we’re not going to back down. We’re going to keep getting better and bringing the same energy we had tonight every single day.”

An uncertain future

Had things originally gone as planned and Kentucky played Ohio State, this could be a very different post; however, the Buckeyes were among the many, many teams to bow out of games due to COVID as the Omicron variant sweeps the nation. The familiar unease is creeping back in; Wheeler admitted it added to Kentucky’s sense of urgency.

“I don’t know if we’ve talked about it with everyone, but I know some of us were like, ‘Man, this could be our last game for a while, so just go out there and give it your all. Just play your hardest.'”

“I told them this: feel good that you’re playing,” Calipari said. “There are all kinds of teams that aren’t playing. Feel good that you are playing basketball. We don’t know where all this stuff goes but my hope is we can mitigate it. Wear the mask. Go get the booster…Last year was the most miserable thing I’ve ever been through.”

In basketball and in life, the future remains uncertain, which is even more reason to enjoy tonight’s 29-point win over North Carolina.