Kentucky basketball did not start the season the way they wanted, and many people began to doubt them as the games continued. Over the past few games, things have changed, and they've made things happen in the second half of the contests to help them come out with the victory.
Going up against Tennessee, the Wildcats were down by as much as 17 points in the first half, and were down by 11 going into halftime. Just like they were down by 16 going into the half against LSU and came back and won, Kentucky did not stop fighting and walked away with the victory against Tennessee.
It might not be the way that head coach Mark Pope drew it up, but his team has been super resilient over the course of the last three games, and there'sa gift he thinks the team has.
“I think the gift we have, and I will treasure this with this group — and we really feel it,” Pope said via Jack Pilgrim of On3. “We actually talked about it in our team meeting last night. It’s like, we’re coming into halftime down 20. We’ve done it multiple times now and we come back and win every single time. It gives you so much confidence as a group because you can walk in the locker room and nobody’s sideways. It’s like, ‘Yep, this is what we do. We’ll come out and win the second half.’ These guys have proved to do it, man.”
The Wildcats were basically down the entire game until they took the lead with 34 seconds left and came out with the victory.
There is still a lot of season left, but this looks like the beginning of something new for Kentucky. They're currently 12-6, and they have a chance to continue to climb the standings, but they'll have to start games as they begin the second half.
