Cats Grateful, Focused on Eve of March Madness Return
You won’t find a more grateful team than Kentucky this NCAA Tournament.
Returning to March Madness for the ninth time in 10 seasons after a one-year hiatus, Matthew Mitchell and the Wildcats couldn’t be happier to be back.
“Gratitude is something that we always need to exercise in our lives and we need to be grateful for every opportunity that we get,” Mitchell said. “And I do think that from my standpoint, I’m particularly grateful for this group because every team that’s ever played in an NCAA Tournament, Kentucky was not guaranteed that when the season started.”
It’s never been clearer that the NCAA Tournament is no birthright than this time last year, when Maci Morris and Taylor Murray pondered the fact that they had to watch March Madness from home. With only one season left in their college careers, the two players who are now UK’s senior leaders set about making sure the same didn’t happen this year.
“It was disappointing for us since we’ve been in tournament every year besides last year,” Morris said. “We wanted to make sure that that didn’t happen again. And so it was really on the team about making sure that we had that focus all year round, that we make sure that we are eligible to be in the tournament.”
After a strong regular season, there was no question on Selection Monday that the Cats (24-7) would be back where they belong. Indeed, UK was tabbed a No. 6 seed, set to face No. 11 Princeton (22-9) Saturday at 11 a.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“I know they’re grateful for this experience and they’re going to put everything they can into making sure it’s a lengthy stay in the NCAA Tournament,” Mitchell said. “That’s what we’re motivated to do.”
Not only are the Cats motivated, they are also rested after enjoying more than two weeks without a game following their exit from the SEC Tournament in a quarterfinal loss to Missouri.
“This year in particular the long break was beneficial for us,” Mitchell said. “Very beneficial because we were so banged up and we had fought so hard and the conference and in the regular season. It was good to have a little time to try to get some treatment, try to get back to a place of health where we could be really energetic and enthusiastic coming into the tournament.”
This, however, is UK’s longest break without a game that counts since the offseason, meaning sharpness has to be a concern. The Cats believe they’ve sufficiently addressed that.
“I don’t think rust will be a factor,” Murray said. “I think that we’ve been in a gym preparing for this moment and with them excitement around this tournament, I think we’re going to be ready to play.”
In fact, Mitchell thinks the time away will be a plus for the Cats, who shot less than 40 percent from their field in their final four games.
“So we got back in the gym and got some reps there and I thought that was really beneficial and the practice had been high energy and enthusiastic,” Mitchell said. “And then we had one scrimmage where we had officials and we tried to keep that game from setting in. We played a scrimmage there. So you do the best that you can. I thought it has been a very beneficial time for us and I think we’ll be ready to go (Saturday) morning.”
That’s not some idle hope either. Not only have the Cats been hard at work lately, Mitchell also has plenty of evidence from throughout the season to back up his belief.
“No matter what hand they’re dealt tomorrow morning, they’re there,” Mitchell said. “They’re going to play for 40 minutes and give everything they have. And I’ve really admired the team for that. Over the course of this season, we’ve been a very resilient team.”
