As the saying goes, it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season; however, it’s also hard to win three games in three days, especially when the third is against Florida, the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and the No. 4 team in the country. Kentucky will at least have the chance after beating LSU and Missouri to advance to a rematch with the Gators in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Friday’s game tips off at 1 p.m. ET, 12 p.m. CT. From now until then, recovery is Kentucky’s primary focus.
“Our guys are pretty dialed in,” Mark Pope said in his postgame press conference. “They’ll be done with media in a few minutes here. We’ll get back to the hotel, and we’ll meet the same as we did yesterday. Meet and take our first shot at the whole scout as soon as we get back and eat. The guys will go through treatment. They’ll spend hours, literally hours, going through treatment to get ready. Then we’ll go to battle tomorrow at the same time.”
Recovery is especially important for a few Wildcats. Kam Williams played 13 minutes in the win vs. Missouri, his second game back from foot surgery. He played 17 minutes in the win over LSU and was listed as a game-time decision on the SEC Availability Report this morning. Based on his comments in the locker room, Williams will do everything he can to play tomorrow after missing out on the first two games vs. Florida.
“It was a little bit [sore] this morning,” Williams said of his foot. “Fresh off a game, first game back since it happened, so definitely credit to the staff for keeping me in the best shape I can be, icing it multiple times, like I did. We’ve got a couple more for the rest of the day that I’ll do, so I can be in the best shape for tomorrow. We’ve got a great team tomorrow. Great players, great coach, great everything, so we’ll do everything we can to get that win.”
Williams had hoped to play in the regular-season finale for the Gators last weekend, but his foot was too sore after returning to practice a few days prior. He hopes being back on the floor will help open things up for Kentucky in round three.
“I guess I can make them expand their defense a little more, open up lanes for Denzel [Aberdeen] and Otega [Oweh] to get through. I feel like just me being out there gives them different looks at so I can match up with their bigs as best as I can, because I know they were trying to play a little small ball before, but give them a little different look. On the offensive side, I feel like since I’m looked at as a shooter, that it opened lanes for them too, to get downhill.”
Williams will spend his night and morning icing, stretching, and doing resistance band exercises with his foot. For Mo Dioubate, only one thing matters: food. The junior forward is fasting for Ramadan, which means no eating or drinking from sunup to sundown. You might think playing earlier in the day would be easier for Dioubate since it’s closer to sunrise. He said it’s the opposite.
“It’s the morning game, so it makes it easier, but it’s after the game that it’s a little harder. You know, I’ve gotta wait about four hours now to eat or drink anything, but I’ll be all right.”
When asked at the postgame press conference, Dioubate knew the exact time he can break his fast tonight: 6:51 p.m., when the sun sets in Nashville.
“The film study gets brutal now after the game,” Pope added. “He’s battling through it. It’s awesome.”
Flashback to AAU days
The rest of the team will get massages and take it easy, staying off their feet as much as possible. Kentucky’s training staff will be the real MVPs.
“We’ll see playing three days in a row,” Collin Chandler said. “All I know is what happened today, and I think we did a good job. Our training staff did a good job at getting us to rest and hydrate. And I think we all felt good today. So we’re gonna, I think, do the same thing tonight and come back as fresh as we can tomorrow.”
Andrija Jelavic made headlines last week when he said fatigue wasn’t an issue for Kentucky. Even though the Cats have played on back-to-back days, Jelavic thinks their energy is great, thanks in part to a boost from the very loud Kentucky fans at Bridgestone Arena.
“I feel like the energy levels are basically the same and maybe even better than when we got here, and now with us playing on Wednesday and then playing the first game again tomorrow, it just seems maybe like a better thing for us. Now, it seems like we already know the gym, you know, and we get home court advantage, because the BBN is amazing. You know, 90% of the arena is blue and white, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.
“And as I said, we love playing from Wednesday [on]. Some of them believe, some of them not, but we are here on Friday, and we’re looking to win another one.”
Several players said this week’s schedule has them flashing back to their days on the AAU circuit.
“I feel like it just brings us back to our old AAU games, when you play like three in a row in one day,” Brandon Garrison said. “So, you know, it’s second nature.”
“I was thinking about that during warm-ups,” Chandler added. “Like, man, this is just like traveling for a tournament. It’s fun, having those memories flood back.”
The most games in a row that Jelavic has played were two in a tournament in Croatia. That said, he welcomes the opportunity to play more.
“It’s nothing special for me, really, playing three games in a row. I want to play the fourth and the fifth. So, it’s just mentality, you know. There’s no time for fatigue in these situations.”