ATLANTA — LSU is fighting for its postseason life. According to most prognosticators, the Tigers are currently on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and in need of profile-strengthening wins.A Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup with Kentucky offers an exact such chance, meaning UK can expect LSU’s best shot on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.The Wildcats, however, aren’t concerning themselves with how hungry the Tigers will be in the teams’ third matchup this season. They want to play their game.”I don’t know about their motivation,” assistant coach Orlando Antigua said. “I know for our motivation we want to try to come out and play well and see if we can take care of business in a game that we have ahead of us and see where that can take us.”The Cats spent the week focusing on themselves, most notably by implementing a mysterious offensive “tweak” and ratcheting up the physicality of their practices. With a big, strong LSU team waiting after a 68-56 win over Alabama, UK will be tested immediately.”We’ll see where we’re at with that,” Antigua said. “They are a physical team and we have been trying to increase a little bit more in practice how physical we play with each other and against each other, and we’ll see how that translates.”UK (22-9) didn’t learn its opponent until Thursday night, but the seventh-seeded Tigers (19-12) have the Cats’ attention.”Long, athletic team,” Julius Randle said on Tuesday. “Very talented team. I think their team is better than what their record shows. But they’re just a really good team. They match up with us well.”You needn’t look any further than the two regular-season matchups between LSU and Kentucky for evidence of that.In Baton Rouge, La., the Tigers outmuscled UK en route to an 87-82 win that wasn’t as close as the final score suggested. On Feb. 22 in Rupp Arena, LSU’s bid to sweep the Cats was undone by a Julius Randle game winner in the final seconds.”They’re a good team,” Antigua said. “They got good size, they got athleticism, they got veteran guards, they got some guys coming off the bench that are also really talented and it’s going to be fun and exciting.”Johnny O’Bryant was a terror in his two games against UK, averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. The junior forward dealt with the same double teams the Cats will likely send at him against Alabama and had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.”He’s really, really talented,” Antigua said. “Big, physical and skilled. Can shoot the ball out to 17 feet, catch and shoot and rebounds and is athletic so he’s a man, he’s a challenge.”LSU got by Alabama on the strength of a balanced scoring effort and knockdown shooting. The Tigers shot 27 of 54 from the field — including 11 of 22 from 3-point range — with Shavon Coleman and Tim Quarterman combining for 27 points and seven 3s.”It’s pretty daunting when anybody shoots that well,” Antigua said. “I mean, the 3 obviously can be a really big game changer and we’re going to have to try to see if we can use our length to make it a little more difficult for them so they’re not as comfortable, match up quickly in transition and find the shooters and try to play to our strengths.”Regardless of opponent, that will be UK’s priority throughout the postseason.”I think our confidence is going to be pretty good,” Antigua said. “I think that we can control our own emotions and what we do, and that’s what we’re going to try to come out and do: play hard, play together and try to make things difficult for them.”