Heâs pleaded with them to play harder, play angrier. Heâs told them to play to win, not play not to lose. Heâs done everything he can to get Alex Poythress to go harder, pushed Kyle Wiltjer to take the reins of this team and asked Nerlens Noel to step up in Willie Cauley-Steinâs absence.
Calipari and the Wildcats got all those and then some Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss., including a Kentucky single-game record 12 blocked shots from Noel, in perhaps the craziest, most entertaining game of the season for Kentucky.
Going forward, all of Tuesday nightâs key breakthroughs could pay big dividends down the stretch, but it was important in the short term because UK got its much-needed road win against a ranked opponent. In need of marquee victory, the Cats (14-6, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) notched a critical résumé-building win with a thrilling 87-74 decision over No. 16 Ole Miss (17-3, 6-1 SEC).
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walterâs Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.