Kentucky prepares for round three vs. Alabama: "We've been waiting for this moment."

Round one of Kentucky vs. Alabama was a track meet inside Rupp Arena, a back-and-forth battle led by two offensive gurus in Mark Pope and Nate Oats, the Crimson Tide pulling off the 102-97 win. Round two in Tuscaloosa was a tough one, the Wildcats controlling the game for the first ten minutes while keeping it within one score with ten minutes to go before running out of gas down the stretch, the Tide earning the 96-83 victory.

They’re -18 in the two-game series, but the Cats have been competitive both times out. They’re not looking to be competitive in round three, though. They want to win to keep their SEC Tournament run alive.

“Most definitely,” Koby Brea said of his excitement for another shot at Alabama. “There aren’t many times that you’re able to play the same team three times, and obviously they got us twice. It’s a good challenge for us and we’re looking forward to it.”

“We’re excited for this game, it’s kind of the way we’ve been all season, just trying to respond to adversity and figure out a way to get wins,” Andrew Carr added. “We’re excited to be able to try and take the next step and step up and be able to do that again (Friday).”

Alabama comes out firing and puts up points in a hurry, but the Tide have earned a reputation for being tough and physical, too — not just finesse and speed for Oats’ group. Countering that with their own punches will be key, the Cats looking to be hammers rather than nails inside Bridgestone Arena in the late-night matchup.

“I mean, the whole team is physical. (Labaron) Philon, Cliff (Omoruyi), Grant Nelson, even (Chris) Youngblood even though he’s just a shooter. The whole team is physical, they always bring it every night,” Amari Williams said. “That’s what you want to see when you watch them, especially that last game against Auburn. We all know about that, it’s about matching that and making sure the game doesn’t get too out of control. That’s something we have to work on.

“It’s a good challenge, we’re looking forward to it.”

They’re not afraid to admit that last matchup wasn’t the team’s best all-around showing, specifically down the stretch as Alabama’s margin of victory ballooned to double figures. Kentucky wants to give its best 40-minute effort to survive and advance, using what the team learned in the previous losses and turn it into a winning opportunity in Nashville.

“So excited. I think we’ve been waiting for this moment,” Collin Chandler said. “The last one left a little sour taste in our mouth, so we’re amped to play them again. They’re a good team, a really good offensive team. I think a lot of the stuff that they do resembles what we run in our offense.

“We have one of the greatest coaching staffs and the scouts they’re going to bring — I’m sure we’re going to have an answer, what they’re going to bring us (Friday). That’s going to be the decider of the game, how locked in we can be defensively.”

It’s gonna be another late one, Kentucky tipping off against Alabama at 9:30 PM ET, live on SEC Network. Can the Cats make it to the conference semifinals in an all-time tournament?

“It’s incredibly challenging. That’s why it’s March magic, right? It’s March magic. If you can do it, then you do it, right?” Pope said of the team’s mindset going into Friday evening. “We get to be tested in an epic way. We lost twice to Alabama. They’re a top four or five team in the country. We’re a little beat up and a little shorthanded. All that’s fine.

“That’s actually where you write the great stories. That’s why we’re all attracted to March, is because there are just these few teams that step up and do things that nobody thinks they can do, under major duress and all kinds of problems. If you don’t want to be part of that, don’t go to March.

“We are dying to be a part of that. We want it so bad. We’re going to go fight and we’re going to see what we can do tomorrow.”