Resilient Cats Show Will to Win
Rupp Arena was on edge well before tip.
That nervous energy only intensified as Kentucky’s annual showdown with Louisville wore on, but it was finally ready to transform into rapturous celebration. The Wildcats had the ball with 10 seconds left in a tie game.
Tyrese Maxey drove and his runner came off the rim. Keion Brooks Jr. was there and his tip-in was almost perfect. There was no way it could miss…but then it did.
Instead of scoring a signature win with a signature moment in a storied rivalry, the Cats faced the prospect of five more minutes of basketball against one of the nation’s best teams. John Calipari had to get his team ready for it.
“How about, you got to walk in your huddle on a tip-in that didn’t go?” Calipari said.
Though the air had been let out of a season-high crowd of 20,437, Coach Cal didn’t waver.
“Look, guys, I’ve been here before,” Calipari said, recalling the message he delivered in that pre-overtime huddle. “We’re fine. That is what it is.”
UK was put to the test again in that overtime period, with the crucial moment coming midway through. When Immanuel Quickley’s would-be go-ahead 3-pointer missed, Ashton Hagans had an opportunity to snag a big offensive rebound. He went for it with one hand – a well known Calipari bugaboo – which led to a Jordan Nwora 3 on the other end. Louisville suddenly had a 68-65 lead.
Calipari called timeout to steady his team once again. Nick Richards responded with a game-tying and-one put-back – the first of seven straight points in a huge performance by the sophomore – and UK eventually secured a thrilling 78-70 victory.
“I would probably say this is the most we’ve ever fought as a team,” Richards said.
UK needed every ounce of that fight, with the Cardinals rallying from 12 down in the second half. With a young team in the midst of a two-game losing streak, the Cats could have let go of the rope on any number of occasions. They never did.
“Those are big plays that we fought back from,” Calipari said. “I mean, we went in a stretch where we couldn’t get a basket, couldn’t make a shot. We were trying to find offense, but let me say this, Louisville’s one of the best defensive teams in the country. In the country. Their numbers, the way they rebound, the way they guard the 2, the way they guard the 3. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. I hate to tell you, they’re one of the best offensive teams in the country, too. The way they score the ball. But I was proud of being down three and fighting to come back and win the game.”
That nervous energy was long gone with 17 seconds left when Immanuel Quickley came away with a rebound and the Cats leading by two. A premature raucous celebration was underway, with the noise in Rupp deafening and players bouncing around as if the game were already over. Quickley reminded his teammates it most certainly was not.
“Immanuel was actually telling me to calm down because we started celebrating after we were up two and there were 15 seconds left,” Richards said. “Quick, he did a really good job bringing us together. Stay focused until the last second of the game.”
“I was trying to calm everybody down, because I had been in that type of game,” Quickley said. “Just being able to have experience helps because you can share with other guys.”
UK did, with Quickley making a pair of free throws, Maxey doing the same and Hagans coming away with an exclamation point of a steal and slam. The Cats finished the game 21 of 25 (84%) at the line to get to 79% on the season, while Louisville shot just 9 of 20.
“How about (Richards) made free throws late?” Calipari said. “Immanuel makes them, Tyrese makes them. We showed a will to win.”
There’s really no more important trait for a team. And in spite of a few bumps in the road over the last two months, the Cats enter a new calendar year having proven they have it.
“I come back to, we have lost some games this year that, a couple-bucket games, each of them,” Calipari said. “But learning how to win and making the plays that you must make, it’s kind of like you telling them, that’s fire, don’t touch it. That is fire, don’t touch it. They’re going to touch it. And that’s part of the learning. And so you can’t make that kind of play now. Well, I’m going to show you I can make it. And that’s what we have been going through. But it’s a process. I’ve said all along, my team is good.”
