Kentucky basketball isn't where it wants to be, but Wildcats continue to display growth

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Earlier this season, losses adversely affected the psyche of Kentucky's men's basketball team. (The one-sided setbacks at Gonzaga and Alabama come to mind.) Afterward, the Wildcats were frustrated. Despondent. Confused as to why they struggled so mightily against the type of competition that might await in the NCAA tournament.

That wasn't the case following Saturday's home loss to a Kansas team ranked among the nation's top 10.

While Kentucky players and coaches weren't happy with the outcome, they weren't devastated, either.

"We never stopped playing. We fought the whole time, and we've got a lot of games left," UK coach John Calipari said after the 77-68 loss to the Jayhawks, which snapped the Wildcats' four-game win streak. "This is a marathon. We've got games (coming up), and we've just got to keep getting better."

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When the team met Sunday, players reiterated that assertion. They believed they let a prime opportunity to notch their best home victory of the season — one UK (14-7, 5-3 SEC) sorely needed, as it enters this week squarely on the NCAA bubble, with a win at Tennessee as its lone notable triumph thus far — slip through their fingers.

"Our guys were mad," first-year UK assistant coach K.T. Turner said Monday. "They said it (Sunday): 'We're mad we lost, because we felt like we had a chance to win the game.' But they realized we were right there. We were right there. We've just got to get a little bit better."

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Kentucky handles hardship better now, Turner said, because the team's chemistry — which once was lacking — has blossomed.

"Our backs were against the wall (earlier in the season), and we got more focused on the scouting reports, more focused in practice — they came together more," he explained. "You could really see that in the locker room, just pulling for each other, wanting each other to have success."

Despite Saturday's setback, it didn't affect the Wildcats' SEC record. They enter Tuesday night's game at Ole Miss having won four consecutive outings in league play.

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"We're going to keep moving forward," senior forward Jacob Toppin said. "… We're not going to win every game. We're not going to do good every game. So we've just got to go back, watch film, see what we can get better at and then worry about the next game."

UK pushing its SEC win streak to five in a row, Turner cautioned, won't be as easy as some observers might assume given the Rebels' 1-7 mark in conference games.

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"They're a really good team. They play hard. They're physical. They're athletic," Turner said. "It's going to be physical. I think they're a lot better than what their record shows in the SEC, for sure."

In that regard, Calipari believes his team shares a similarity with Tuesday's foe: The Wildcats are better than their record shows.

It's just taking time to round into form.

"We are not where we need to be," Calipari said, "but we are certainly not where we were."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: As NCAA tournament inches closer, Kentucky basketball displays growth