Kentucky Enters the NCAA Tournament Motivated, 'We Want to Prove Everybody Wrong'

Win or go home. That is the reality Kentucky and 67 other teams face as they enter the NCAA Tournament this week.

They got a taste of that in the SEC Tournament, losing to Texas A&M in their first game. Sending them and thousands of the Kentucky faithful home with a bad taste in their mouth, one that Rob Dillingham believes will motivate the team for the Big Dance.

“I’m confident in our team,” Dillingham said after the loss to A&M. “It’s one game. Teams lose. It’s the best team to win that day. I feel like it only sets us up to be more hungry to be in the tournament.”

Fairly or unfairly, a lot rides on this Kentucky team to lift the morale of the program with a Tournament run. After just one SEC Tournament win and one NCAA Tournament win over the last three seasons, the Big Blue Nation is not content, nor should they be.

That lack of postseason success has acted similar to a pressure cooker, creating a level of pressure that hasn’t been felt in years. The solution, win.

That is a task the players are accepting. “If you ask me, I just want to prove everybody wrong who doubted in us,” Zvonimir Ivisic said. “Everyone who said we couldn’t do it. Who doubted in Coach Cal. ‘They’re all freshmen’. All this, all that. I just want to prove them wrong.”

This team has been at their best when people are doubting them, counting them out, and so has Calipari. Kentucky has won four straight games when they are at least a 7.5-point underdog, including beating a 1-seed quality Tennessee team on the road in Knoxville in the regular season finale.

Teammates Rob Dillingham and Anotnio Reeves talked more along the same lines after the Selection Show, going into the tournament with revenge on their minds after losing to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament.

“We feel confident, honestly. Every time we’ve lost we have come back with a vain.” Dillingham said. “Just coming back with revenge,” Reeves added.

This was supposed to be the year. Kentucky brought in the No. 1 recruiting class, which featured multiple NBA Draft picks. Including DJ Wagner, the No. 1 recruit who was long tabbed a Wildcat, and homegrown talent Reed Sheppard. Pairing that young talent with talented veterans Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves, with the latter having an All-American season, and key contributors like Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso.

The style of play, the personalities, their celebration of each other, have brought joy to a fanbase at a time when it has needed it. But without a deep run, one of the most likable Kentucky teams in recent memory could be looked back on with disappointment.

Dillingham says it’s all about playing their own game. “When we play our game, there’s not a lot of teams that can play as good as us,” Dillingham said. “When we play our game, we rarely lose.”