Kentucky looking to make statement in first road outing since Notre Dame

When Kentucky travels down to Baton Rouge for Tuesday’s ranked matchup against the No. 21 LSU Tigers, it’ll be another spectacle of an event for the Wildcats.

You see, the last time Kentucky hit the road, it didn’t exactly end well. Notre Dame made an early December, non-conference outing feel like a Final Four affair. The Fighting Irish inducted all-time great LaPhonso Ellis into the Ring of Honor before introducing new head football coach Marcus Freeman during halftime. The Joyce Center only holds a little over 9,000 fans, but it felt like a fully packed football stadium by tipoff.

That was the first and only time this season that Kentucky has played a true road game. Despite having multiple chances to seal the win down the stretch, the pressure seemingly got to the ‘Cats. Notre Dame pulled out a 66-62 victory as UK infamously shot 2-19 from downtown.

Like Notre Dame, LSU is planning on pulling out all the ceremonial stops, as well.

The Tigers intend to formally name its basketball court after legendary LSU head coach Dale Brown, who spent 25 seasons at the program from 1972-1997, amassing a 448-301 record including 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament and two Final Four berths.

It’s flown under the radar but in two days @LSUBasketball will play @KentuckyMBB at 6pm. Before the tip the Court will be dedicated to the Winningest HC in school History. I won’t bore ya with career stats, but know this. No one has done more good for Players rights in College 🏀 pic.twitter.com/gxbesGrlHq

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) January 2, 2022

LSU could have chosen any game to honor Coach Brown, but it went with Kentucky for a reason. Opposing fans want to beat UK more than almost any other program. They want to make an event out of it. It truly is their Super Bowl.

But now this Kentucky team has some experience playing in that environment. They felt the crowd rush the floor and get in their face as they walked off the hardwood up in South Bend. They would prefer to not have that happen again.

“It’s probably the–what is the terminology–coup de grâce for them,” UK assistant coach Chin Coleman said on Monday about what this game means for LSU. “I think that for us it’s another game for us to continue to get better every day. They’re doing a bunch of hype stuff, they’re naming the court after Coach Dale, they’re also doing a deal for him at halftime.

“Similar to what they did at Notre Dame, obviously that’s what you got to be used to playing here and coaching here is that the opposing teams, when you’re on the road, are gonna try to do whatever they can do to muster up energy, to muster up the crowd, to try to get themselves an advantage to win the Super Bowl, and that Super Bowl is playing and beating Kentucky.”

LSU is a better team than Notre Dame, as well. The Fighting Irish lost to Indiana the game after beating UK and is currently 7-5 on the year. While LSU is coming off its first loss of the season, it came against a very good Auburn team that is widely regarded as one of the 10 best in the country. LSU is still considered a top 25 program right now and will be eager to avoid back-to-back losses.

“This is Kentucky though, it’s why you come here,” UK guard Davion Mintz said on Monday. “What else do you want? You want to be the main scene. It is what it is, we’re used to it at this point and the state should be too. This is why we come here and this is why we are UK.”

Davion Mintz on what Kentucky wants to prove tomorrow at LSU: "That we’re road warriors. We can come into your house and dominate the same way we do here. We want to prove there’s no layoff and that we’re a legitimate top 10, top 5 team in the country."

— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) January 3, 2022

Kentucky is playing far better than it did during that loss to Notre Dame on Dec. 11, over three weeks ago at this point. The ‘Cats have responded in impressive fashion, destroying its last four opponents by an average of 33.8 points per game with wins over North Carolina, Western Kentucky, Missouri, and High Point. Not exactly a gauntlet run, but much tougher tests than what was brought to Rupp Arena throughout November.

Coach Coleman added that Kentucky is “trending in the right direction” following these consecutive blowout wins. To keep that up, taking care of a questionable LSU squad on the road is key. Not just for the team record, but for the overall mentality and confidence it would build moving forward. Kentucky will have to win big games on the road this season in order to reach its ceiling. Tuesday night will be the perfect opening test; an opportunity to prove that four straight home wins weren’t a fluke.

“That we’re road warriors,” Mintz added about what UK is looking to prove against LSU. “We can come into your house and we can dominate the same way we do here. We want to prove that there’s no layoff, that we’re a legitimate top 10, top 5 team in the country no matter if we’re playing at home or we’re away.

“We just want to prove that there’s no layoff where we play at, we can play anybody anywhere that’s just what we’re looking to prove–we’re legitimate. But more so to ourselves than everyone else. First step is proving it to ourselves and that’s what we’re coming in to do.”

Taking care of LSU on the road sure would prove plenty, to both the players themselves and the fans. UK is playing well right now, but how much better can they get?

We’ll find out on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.