When Nerlens Noel went down with a season-ending injury, it left Kentucky with little hope. That was multiplied when the Wildcats dropped their first game without Noel by 30 to Tennessee.
Since then, Kentucky has rallied off three straight, prompting point guard Ryan Harrow to proclaim that the Wildcats have turned a corner at the most important part of the season.
“I think we’ve kind of made a breakthrough and everybody is starting to click together,” Harrow told reporters on Friday.
Several weeks ago, Kentucky played dodgeball as a way to relax the team and it seems to have worked. However, John Calipari had previously tried a more strict tactic earlier in the season, ‘Camp Cal,’ which sparked a five-game winning streak before dropping two of the next four. So what’s different this time around? That urgency that Selection Sunday is near.
“It’s kind of like the end of the road now, so it really matters,” added Harrow. “Everything counts right now. We hold our destiny in our hands, as coaches say.”
Kentucky is tied with Alabama for second place in the SEC, only trailing Florida by a game. The Wildcats have their best chance to prove Harrow’s comments are valid when they travel to Little Rock to play a tough Arkansas team. UK follows that with another road game Thursday against Georgia, before a showdown in Lexington against Florida next Saturday.
Kentucky always had the talent. Have they turned the corner? That will be answered this week.
Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne