UK’s Full Focus on Abilene Christian
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – John Calipari has repeated his “we’re everybody’s Super Bowl” line more times than anyone would care to count.
What isn’t so common is hearing an opposing coach describe the phenomenon.
“Here’s the deal, man, we couldn’t have got a better draw,” Abilene Christian head coach Joe Golding said. “We’re playing the University of Kentucky. I mean, one of the most historic blue bloods, maybe the most historic blue-blood college basketball program in the country. You’re playing five-star recruits. You’re playing a Hall-of-Fame coach, the best fan base in the country.”
Clearly, No. 15 Abilene Christian (27-6) is embracing its first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with No. 2 Kentucky (27-6) and will play as such when the two teams face off at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday. What the Wildcats – the ones from UK – will have going for them is that will be nothing new.
“That’s always been the case,” Ashton Hagans said. “Coming to play Kentucky, everyone’s going to give them their best shot. So we just gotta go there, stay focused and stick to the game plan.”
March Madness is the time for breaking down brackets and looking ahead to potential paths to the Final Four for Kentucky fans, but that sort of mentality doesn’t make it anywhere near the UK locker room. The Cats might be the heavy favorites come Thursday evening, but they don’t intend to act like it in their preparation.
“All we’re worried about is Abilene Christian because they’re good enough to beat us,” Calipari said. “I watched their games. I’m impressed with how they play, both inside and outside. They defend. They make it hard for catches. They try to steal balls. They scramble the game up. They’re good. They’re well-coached.”
Abilene Christian, making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, does more than try to steal balls. The Wildcats rank eighth nationally in defensive turnover rate and 15th in steal rate. They grabbed double-digit steals in 13 different games this season, including 13 in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game against New Orleans.
The Wildcats also are knockdown shooters from beyond the arc, though they don’t attempt all that many 3-pointers. With no players on the active roster taller than 6-foot-8 and often lineups with capable shooters at the four and five positions, it will be a unique challenge for Kentucky.
“They play aggressive,” Calipari said. “Their five man (Hayden Farquhar) can shoot. So if you don’t go play him, he’s making shots. The championship game they played, he made the two 3s that ended the game. It was their five man. So you look at this and say, they’ve got drivers, they’ve got a couple guys that are making 3s. They can stretch you out. They can get you near the basket. I mean, they’re good. They’re good. And defensively they’re not just giving you baskets. You’re going to have to fight because they play. They’re well-coached.”
Abilene Christian, in other words, didn’t win 27 games by accident.
“They’re a good team,” Tyler Herro said. “We respect every team. If we were playing the best team in the country or whoever we’re playing, we respect them with the same respect as any other team. We’re ready to take that game on.”
Regardless of the respect Kentucky has for Abilene Christian, that won’t change the fact that UK will be the favorite come Thursday. The Cats know what that means.
“Anytime that you have a lower seen versus a higher seed, you definitely have motivation,” Travis said. “For us, I feel like we’ve gone through that all year as far as teams kind of building themselves up to play us. It’s something we like. We like when teams bring their best game. It’s the tournament, so you expect that. There’s great teams from every conference and they’ve had success all year so we know we’re going to get the best shot from everybody. We’re going to bring our best too.”
