Postseason play is here for UK basketball, and John Calipari likes his team’s physicality

Few, if any, teams around the nation have as much momentum as Kentucky does at the moment.

Now up to No. 9 in the latest AP men’s basketball poll, head coach John Calipari’s Wildcats (23-8 overall and 13-5 in SEC play) ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak.

The most recent victory in this stretch, an 85-81 decision at Tennessee on Saturday, was the most impressive victory of the season for UK. The win secured a double bye in the SEC Tournament for the Wildcats, who are the No. 2 seed for this week’s event and will open play in the quarterfinals Friday night.

Saturday night also brought big recruiting news for UK’s future: Class of 2024 small forward Karter Knox committed to UK, growing Kentucky’s incoming recruiting class to six players for next season.

Several current Wildcats got some deserved recognition Monday afternoon: Reed Sheppard was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, Rob Dillingham was named the SEC Sixth Man of the Year and Antonio Reeves was one of eight players named to the first-team All-SEC list.

Safe to say, it’s a good time for Kentucky basketball.

This positive news was all folded into Monday’s edition of Calipari’s weekly radio show.

John Calipari likes the physical edge UK basketball now has

Calipari has given his team a few days off following Saturday’s big win in Knoxville. Again, the Wildcats’ SEC Tournament journey doesn’t begin until Friday night.

During a recent postgame team dinner, Calipari highlighted to his players some of the best moments from that win over the Volunteers.

Calipari said he showed his players 10 video clips of defensive stops UK had against Tennessee: The Volunteers shot just 37.8% from the field in the game. Kentucky is now 8-0 this season when holding its opponents under 40% shooting from the field.

Calipari also showed 10 plays of strong, attacking basketball by the Wildcats on the offensive end.

Sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso set an early, physical tone in Saturday’s game, and the results clearly pleased Calipari and the UK coaching staff.

“Ugo was off the charts. ... Without Ugo, we don’t win the game,” Calipari said, praising the 7-foot Nigerian’s physicality.

The Cats are now 15-0 this season when outrebounding opponents or tying them on the boards. UK outrebounded Tennessee on Saturday 42-37.

“That’s who we are now. That’s us, right there,” Calipari said, recalling the message he told his team when showing those video clips.

“So, lets live up to that.”

Blocks have also been part of UK’s defensive equation all season long: Kentucky had nine rejections in Saturday’s win.

For the 2023-24 season, UK ranks third in the country with an average of 6.2 blocks per game. The Cats are the top power conference team in the nation in that statistic.

UK won’t know its first SEC Tournament opponent for several days: UK plays the winner of a Thursday night game between No. 7 seed Texas A&M and No. 10 seed Ole Miss in Friday night’s quarterfinal.

But starting Tuesday the Wildcats were to be back on the hardwood. Calipari said Kentucky would practice twice Tuesday.

UK basketball’s D.J. Wagner also gets SEC recognition

Another Kentucky Wildcat made an appearance on Monday’s SEC season-long awards, which are voted on by the league’s coaches.

Guard D.J. Wagner was named to the SEC All-Freshman team, along with UK’s Dillingham and Sheppard.

Other members of the league’s all-frosh team are Auburn’s Aden Holloway, Florida’s Alex Condon, Georgia’s Silas Demary Jr., Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard and South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles.

After a lean stretch of offense that stretched from late January to late February, Wagner’s scoring has come alive of late to complement his strong point-of-attack defense.

Wagner has scored 10 or more points in three of his last four games. Over those three games — wins over Mississippi State, Arkansas and Vanderbilt — Wagner went 9-for-14 (64.3%) from 3-point range.

“The way he guards and how hard he plays ... there’s no pressure on his offense,” Calipari said of Wagner.

For the season, Wagner is averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 assists per game. He’s fourth on the team in minutes played per game (26).

“(Wagner is) the the least of my worries,” Calipari added. “He’s not going to make every shot, but no one is.”

Reed Sheppard named SEC Freshman of the Year. Reeves, Dillingham and Wagner honored, too.

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