Kentucky's win at Arkansas gives John Calipari confidence for March

Kentucky had just about every built-in excuse you could imagine down in Fayetteville. Zero point guards, foul trouble, hostile road environment, coming off a letdown loss, destroyed by the same team less than a month ago. No one would have blamed the Wildcats had they failed to come up with a winning gameplan in a losing situation.

Eh, excuses be damned. Kentucky traveled to Arkansas and pulled off the unthinkable, rolling against the Razorbacks by a final score of 88-79. The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points with less than two minutes to go. 54% shooting, one player with a career-high 37 points, another with 21, a third with a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double. Home team shoots just 35.7% from the field and converts just two of 20 layup attempts while missing 12 free throws.

Kentucky gets its cake and eats it too

It was a coaching clinic by John Calipari, arguably his best during his time as the head coach at Kentucky. Players executed and made big shots, overcame an endless supply of adversity. Truly no better way to enter postseason play.

And Calipari would be lying if he didn’t feel the same way.

“It was good that, undermanned — we could only work on (new) stuff on Friday. We played Wednesday. For them to flip around and be in the mindset they were in, it was amazing to me. It made me feel good about this group.”

Kentucky got its cake and ate it too. You pull off the win while getting star freshman Cason Wallace (ankle) some much-needed rest. Senior guard CJ Fredrick (rib) plays, but on limited minutes (15). And you secure the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament, setting up a Friday start vs. Thursday as the No. 5 seed. Truly couldn’t have played out better for the Wildcats.

Anybody can beat anybody

Things are clicking at the right time in a year there are truly no great teams in college basketball. Every team is beatable. That helps Kentucky as it looks to make some postseason magic.

“This (year) more than ever,” Calipari said. “The year we were in the Final Four when I was at Memphis, there were four No. 1 seeds — it was us, UCLA, Kansas and North Carolina. I will tell you it’s not this year. You see everybody getting knocked off, losing to teams. If we lose, it’s ‘That’s it, they’re done.’ Other teams lose and it’s, ‘Yeah, tough night. It’s a really hard league.’ I told our guys to just lock it out, let’s go.

“But everybody is getting knocked off. … So it’s an interesting year and I’ll be honest, whatever team is having the most fun, whatever team is in the right mindset — you’re not playing not to lose. You’re just refusing to lose and having a ball playing, feel empowered. … You got to feel empowered. You got to have more fun than the other team.”

Everybody has something to lose in the postseason

Kentucky had a target on its back all season, teams looking to give the Wildcats their best efforts, often at Rupp Arena. Ridiculous shots falling left and right, unlikely opponents exploding for career performances, you name it.

In March Madness, all of that is tossed to the side, because everyone has something to lose now. It’s survive and advance or lose and go home, two options for every team. And every matchup is on a neutral floor.

“Here’s the great thing about postseason: how about how many teams have played us this year with nothing to lose?” Calipari said. “And I’m talking Kansas too, now. Playing in Rupp, making shots that you go, ‘Oh my gosh, he made it?’ Or how about this, late shock clock, he banks one. Remember South Carolina, late shot clock, they made six? They had nothing to lose. There are other games we played where teams thought, ‘We’re getting them. We’re gonna beat them.’ It’s a totally different game now.

“In the NCAA Tournament and even this (SEC) tournament, everybody has something to lose, so you can’t play with nothing to lose.”

Wildcats are battle tested

This Kentucky team has faced everything, both on and off the floor. Highest of highs and lowest of lows. They’ve faced criticism and have earned praise. Battle tested.

For Calipari, it’s a good sign for March.

“All year, every game we play, it’s ‘they’re great,’ ‘they stink,’ ‘they’re great,’ ‘they’ll never make the tournament,’ ‘they’re great,'” Calipari said. “Do you know we lost like six in a row? No, we did. Oh, we never lost more than two in a row? Or did we lose two in a row? I mean, you would have thought we’d lost eight in a row.

“… This team has withstood some unbelievable stuff, both personally and then as a team. That prepares you for the NCAA Tournament. You want all that stuff.”

The Wildcats’ postseason journey begins Friday evening in the SEC Tournament.