Kentucky has been enjoying a double-bye in the SEC Tournament thanks to their 31-0 record. The Wildcats finished the regular season undefeated while wrapping up the SEC title and have had a few days to rest before starting their conference run. Considering the SEC has yet to challenge the Wildcats this entire season, it is expected Kentucky will make an easy run in this tournament before earning the No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. The Florida Gators are hoping to put up a fight.
Kentucky wants this tournament over in three games. Their schedule has the possibility of playing five games in nine days, so the Wildcats want to wrap up this portion quickly with little effort. The team is well rested entering conference play after making history in the regular season, but they cannot afford to overlook anyone as the rest of the SEC would love to play upset.
Florida will be the first team to get that chance after they overcame some poor play to beat Alabama in Thursday's game. They hit nine 3-point shots on 29 attempts while having just six turnovers. They excelled thanks to the return of both Michael Frazier II and Dorioan Finney0Smith who combined for 23 points and 11 rebounds. They will be critical in the game against Kentucky as the Gators would love to earn a conference bid. They hosted Kentucky back in early February and actually held a 30-28 lead at halftime before losing. Kentucky also beat them 67-50 just last weekend.
The Wildcats are aware of the target on their backs and simply hope to continue executing like normal in the tournament run. According to head coach John Calipari, the Wildcats are approaching the tournament with a heavy sense of urgency, much like last season when they were unranked with an eight-man freshman rotation. However, many of those players have grown up which is why Kentucky is having the success this season.
"Do you have a team that is really going to fight until the bitter end?" Calipari said, via ESPN.com. "You're seeing a lot of those kinds of games. My concern is my team and no one else. I just want my team to play at their best. If that's not good enough we'll go back and get ready for the seeding."