by NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For weeks now, Kentucky had battled slow starts, culminating in three straight games in which the Wildcats had to overcome double-digit deficits.
John Calipari wasn’t standing idly by as it happened either. He combed through tape. He asked his players what they thought the issue was.
After all that time, all it took to solve the problem was a win-or-go-home situation. That and a couple days of the Cats being forced to sit on their hands.
“I just think everybody was locked in and it was just like a sense of urgency,” Derek Willis said. “There was a lot of energy I think we brought. I think everybody was just kind of anxious to play. We had been sitting around in the hotel for a couple days, so just wanted to get out there in front of the crowd and kind of get the feel for things.”
Top-seeded UK grabbed a 10-2 lead on No. 8 Georgia in the opening minutes of Friday afternoon’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals and never looked back. The Cats (27-5) never led by fewer than five points in a 71-60 victory over the Bulldogs (19-14) in Bridgestone Arena to advance to a Saturday semifinal matchup with the winner of South Carolina and Alabama.
It wasn’t blistering offense that allowed UK to build an early lead, particularly not as Malik Monk managed only two points. Instead, lockdown defense propelled the Cats. Georgia was stuck at two points until more than five minutes into the game, flummoxed by a Kentucky defense that came out in full-court pressure.
“We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and press early and get the game to speed up,” said Isaiah Briscoe, who scored a game-high tying 20 points. “That was the emphasis all week in practice. I think we executed coming out today.”
That execution started with defense on Georgia’s potent inside-outside duo of J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten, the pair limited to 7-of-28 shooting combined.
“I think we had a great defensive effort tonight,” Willis said. “Everybody was locked in on the whole game plan for Frazier and Maten, as well as the other players.”
Frazier, the dynamic senior guard, still managed to score 15 points, but nothing came easy.
“He’s too good of a player to shut out, so you just try to limit the opportunities that he gets,” said De’Aaron Fox, who shared defensive responsibilities on Frazier with Isaiah Briscoe and Dominique Hawkins. “And pick-and-roll defense. Last game (against Georgia) they killed us on the pick-and-roll. We made that an emphasis today and we guarded the ball screen extremely well today.”
Frazier exploded for 36 points in UK’s last matchup with Georgia, nearly singlehandedly overcoming an early-game injury sustained by Maten to lead the Bulldogs to victory. He did the lion’s share of his damage out of pick-and-rolls, but UK was prepared this time around.
“Earlier in the game they loaded up on the ball screens and loaded up when I had the ball,” Frazier said. “So it made it a lot difficult. When I got the clean looks, I just didn’t knock them down. You got to give their defense a lot of credit.”
With their floor general handcuffed, Georgia managed to shoot only 19 of 57 (33 percent) from the field. Packing the lane to cut off Frazier’s drives, UK dominated the interior with six blocks – its most in almost a month – and even more affected shots inside.
“We were all playing good,” said Bam Adebayo, who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “Derek had four blocks. We were all engaged on defense. We were talking, moving, having fun and just disrupting their offense.”
Adebayo and Willis both agreed with John Calipari in saying this was among UK’s best defensive efforts of the season, which is exactly what the Cats have been working toward.
“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Willis said. “I don’t think we’ve peaked fully, but then again I don’t think a lot of teams have peaked fully. I would say we’re right about there. I feel like with tonight, the defensive effort we have shown, was kind of a huge jump towards that.”
Now, the Cats will look to build on that. They won’t have to wait long to do so.
“Well, we gotta see how we come out tomorrow,” Briscoe said. “Today we came out with great energy. We got a quick turnaround tomorrow. See how we come out tomorrow.”
