John Calipari and Kentucky face a rematch with Georgia on Tuesday night. (Chet White, UK Athletics)

The clutter isn’t going away. That’s why John Calipari won’t stop talking about it.”I talked to them about it yesterday a little bit and just said, ‘You’ve got to stay the course, and that’s the one thing that can break us down,’ ” Coach Cal said.As Kentucky has piled up wins, the noise surrounding them has intensified from an early-season buzz to a dull roar now that the calendar has flipped to March. Of course the national media has latched on to the top-ranked Wildcats’ pursuit of perfection, but Calipari is more worried about immediate threats.”Like I said to them, you’re going to have people around that are trying to make you like them and they’re going to say whatever they’ve got to say, which is, ‘Ah, you should shoot more, you should play more,’ ” Calipari said. ” ‘Why is he going to him and not you? What about this? You really don’t like that guy, right? You’re the man.’ I mean, again, it’s all to enable, it’s all to make them feel good and, ‘Come with me, listen to me, talk to me.’ That’s the stuff they’ve got to be mature enough to deal with.”To help them, Calipari said he brings up the topic at least every 10 days or so. And a couple weeks ago, he queued up video of ESPN analyst Jay Bilas’ message to the team during the preseason Big Blue Bahamas tour. “I could put my head in the sand and say, ‘Ah, that’s not happening here,’ ” Calipari said. ” ‘This is Kentucky.’ It’s worse here. So these kids are strong, they’re mature for their age, they’ve dealt with it, they’ve done it.”It’s a good thing, too, because the tests on the court aren’t getting any easier.That starts Tuesday at Georgia (19-9, 10-6 Southeastern Conference), a team that was within six points of the Wildcats (29-0, 16-0 SEC) in the final five minutes of a February matchup in Rupp Arena. For further evidence that UK is in for a major test, look no further than the fact that Georgia played that game without leading scorer and rebounder Marcus Thornton.”This is a totally different game,” Calipari said.Working in Kentucky’s favor is the fact that Trey Lyles is back in uniform. He missed the first game against Georgia due to illness, but has scored 18 points in back-to-back games. Coach Cal has labeled the freshman forward UK’s X-factor, so figures to help against the Bulldogs.”They’re a better team, and they’re playing better,” Calipari said of Georgia. “Hopefully we’re playing better. We have Trey now.”They’re an NCAA Tournament team we’re playing on the road. It’s gonna be a hard game for us.”Making it even more of a challenge is the coach who will walk the Georgia sideline. Calipari knows he can watch all the tape in the world and still not know what to expect from Mark Fox.”He may come out and play zone,” Calipari said. “He may come out and play man. They may sag. You don’t know what he’s going to do. He looked at the tape, and he’s going to try to exploit us defensively. He is one of those coaches that I know when we walk in we better be ready. Our team better be ready, our staff better be ready. His team will be ready. He’s one of the toughest ones to go against that I’ve been in 20-some years.”Led by Fox, Georgia has won three straight after a stretch of four losses in six games while the Bulldogs suffered through a rash of concussions.”They run their stuff,” Calipari said. “They do their stuff. They know how they’re supposed to play and they play that way. They create the kind of shots they’re trying to create. They put you in situations. They know where they’re gonna find their shots. They do a good job.”Fortunately for the Cats, their preparation won’t change much based on Georgia. Calipari just wants them playing basketball and having fun.”If a team plays with anger, mad, that physiology can turn to fear,” Calipari said. “I want you to play with joy. Play with joy. Have fun. Joy always beats anger, negativity. ‘What’s the worst thing I can say?’ versus ‘How can I build something up? How can I make this (positive)?’ I just told them about it last game: Just play.”

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