Mark Pope’s first Kentucky squad has found it difficult to go on sustained runs, having last recorded a three-game winning streak during the first half of December.
The sixth-seeded Wildcats (21-10) will look to match that streak on Thursday night when they face 14th-seeded Oklahoma (20-12) in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville.
The Sooners advanced Wednesday night with an 81-75 first-round victory over 11th-seeded Georgia.
No. 15-ranked Kentucky has won two straight games on four occasions since its 10-1 start. One of those streaks was beating visiting LSU and then-No. 15 Missouri at Lexington over the final two games of the regular season.
The failure to string together wins could hinder the Wildcats from meeting Pope’s often-announced goal: winning the SEC tourney.
You see, Kentucky needs to win four straight games, and No. 3 seed Alabama and No. 2 seed Florida are on the same side of the bracket.
“We’re going to win. That’s why we’re going down there,” Pope reiterated during his radio show Monday night. “And that doesn’t guarantee us the win, but we’re very clear on that objective, and we understand how important this is and what it means to (Big Blue Nation) and what it means to our guys.
“So we’re going to go chase it as hard as we can. It’s going to be a challenge from the get-go. This league is so fantastic, but why would you want anything less?”
Pope sees status in addition to cutting down nets.
The SEC has been the top conference all season, making winning the tourney this season even of more importance in the eyes of Pope.
“This SEC tournament matters,” he said. “It’s the best league maybe that’s ever been in any year of college basketball, and this SEC matters. So we’re heading to Nashville with all of our successes and confidence and warts and holes that we got to plug and we’re going there with one goal, which is to go win.”
Oklahoma is on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but Sooners coach Porter Moser isn’t acting like his team could get passed over again this season.
The Sooners were team No. 69 last season when they fell short of the 68-team field. Moser sidesteps all talk that his team has more business to take care of.
“We are a part of it. I thought we were above the bubble going into this game,” he said after his team’s third straight victory. “It’s unprecedented of what this league is, what you have to do night in and night out.
“For us, we want to just win and advance in this SEC tournament, then we’re going to get after it. But we are a part of it. No question.”
However, the Sooners were just 6-12 in SEC regular-season play. And one of their most painful setbacks was an 83-82 home loss to then-No. 17 Kentucky on Feb. 26.
The Wildcats’ Otega Oweh reminded his former Oklahoma teammates and fans who he was with a spectacular effort in which he scored a career-best 28 points. Oweh scored Kentucky’s final 18 points, including the decisive layup with 6.4 seconds to play.
“I think it’s going to be a great game,” said Oklahoma forward Jalon Moore, who scored 20 points in the defeat. “When we played them last time, came down to a last shot. We’re a different team when we played them, too. Being able to play them again … it’s going to be a fun and physical game.”
Against Georgia, Jeremiah Fears was the Oklahoma star with 29 points. Fears and Moore each made four treys.
–Field Level Media
