Kentucky can find answers in SEC tourney

While the Wildcats and BBN were once hoping to be a 12 seed and stay out of the First Four in Dayton, they are now thinking about some potential matchups that could allow UK to escape to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

UK is a No. 5 seed in the latest ESPN bracketology projections ahead of the SEC Tournament, which started with two games Wednesday night and gets going for real with four more games Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

Kentucky (21-10) is the No. 3 seed in the SEC tourney, and will play Friday around 8:30 p.m. CT, with No. 6 Vanderbilt the likely opponent. Vanderbilt was to play the winner of Georgia-Louisiana State on Thursday night.

Now, the reality is that there won’t be much movement from a seeding perspective with this week’s conference tournament action, but a solid showing for UK in the SEC Tournament could keep it on that 5 seeding line for the NCAA Tournament.

That would be a significant improvement from the 8-9 scenarios which were in play for UK as it continued to work through February, hunting baskets in games with as much effort as it was trying to string wins together.

UK coach John Calipari has never been a big fan of the SEC Tournament or conference tournaments in general. He was dismissive when UK lost to Tennessee in the SEC semifinals last year in Tampa. UK had a No. 2 seed pretty much locked up in the NCAA Tournament, so that loss gave UK an extra day of rest.

Little did anyone consider at the time that UK would only have one games left in its 2021-22 season, a stunning loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the round of 64 opening game for the Wildcats.

That major blow to the UK program psyche set the stage for the level of angst that this team produced for its fans, followers, coaches and players at different times in this season.

This SEC Tournament could certainly be a drain on the Wildcats because of their player numbers. UK will be without Sahvir Wheeler for sure, and most likely Cason Wallace, while CJ Fredrick could be available but likely his action will be limited in Nashville. That is the core group of UK’s backcourt, along with Antonio Reeves.

But, UK can use this weekend to get more in tune with how to keep playing through a depleted roster as the most important games are looming. Reeves took what looked like a hopeless situation for that backcourt and turned it into one of the most stirring performances in a few years for the Wildcats in their 88-79 win at Arkansas last Saturday.

Reeves got plenty of help from Jacob Toppin, who dropped in 21 points and continued the steady play that has seen the senior hit double figures for the 13th time in 14 games.

UK still needs plenty of help from Reeves, Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe, Chris Livingston, and pretty much anybody else that is available to get on the floor. UK’s path beyond the SEC could get a boost as well.