UK Hunting More Big Home Wins at NCAA Tournament Begins
As the end of the regular season approached, the Wildcats knew they were in. The way they have played all season left no doubt about that.
What they didn’t know, however, was how long they would get to stay home in the NCAA Tournament.
“All we could do was keep winning and we knew that,” JJ Williams said. “We just didn’t know how it was going to be.”
Kentucky certainly held up its end of the bargain. UK closed out the regular season with six straight victories, finishing it by claiming the Conference USA championship outright. The Cats then ran their winning streak to eight by taking the C-USA Tournament title.
With a record of 18-1-1, Kentucky had made its case for a top-four seed and, therefore, the right to host through the Final Four. The Cats would not be denied, as they were tabbed the No. 3 overall seed.
“I’m really thankful and I think that us at home is something spectacular,” said Williams, the C-USA Player of the Year who is tied for third nationally in goals with 16. “Our performances at home have been remarkable throughout the beginning of this year and throughout the end of the year.”
It doesn’t get much more remarkable than 3-0 victories over Indiana and Louisville, the No. 2 and No. 4 overall seeds in the tournament. As impressive as the wins were, they will not be nearly significant as the ones UK will be trying to earn over the next three weeks. That begins Sunday at 4 p.m. when UK hosts Portland at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
“Hopefully we can keep that going and we can get the same hype and the same support from Big Blue Nation,” Williams said. “I just think that if we have those same performances we had against Indiana, Louisville, even ETSU, those types of games, I think that we can go 3-0 and put ourselves in position to go to Santa Barbara (for the Final Four).”
Williams has been individually exceptional at home, scoring nine goals in nine games – all wins. He credits raucous home crowds for helping give him and his team an extra edge in those matches.
“I think that Big Blue Nation has so much to do with that,” Williams said. “All the support we’ve gotten through this year, hopefully we can break another attendance record and put on a show for them, because that’s the reason we’re doing it.”
The attendance record stands at 3,503, set on Oct. 3 when UK handed the Hoosiers one of their two losses on the season. The Cats still look back fondly on that night and a historic regular season in general, but they have bigger things in mind.
“It’s amazing to be in the situation that we are,” Williams said, “with the season that we’ve had, with the great group of guys that we have, to really get the results that we did, to have the great moments and experiences that we had, especially getting some of the big wins that we did. I also think that we’re not done yet.”
