Kentucky has immediately gotten off the mat this season

Jacob Toppin — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

On Saturday, Kentucky was revealed to be the No. 6 overall team per the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The Wildcats have a solid resume with zero losses outside of Quadrant 1. A No. 1 seed is a possibility thanks to consistent winning.

Kentucky has been handed five defeats this season with one coming in all four months of the season. Each time, the Wildcats have bounced back in a mature fashion.

Blowout city

After dropping the season-opener to Duke, the Wildcats bounced back to hammer Robert Morris by 40 points while reaching triple-digits on the scoreboard. That performance would set the tone for the seasons as Kentucky started a seven-game winning streak.

After a woeful game against Notre Dame in the first road trip of the year on Dec. 11, Kentucky had a long week off with many doubting this team’s potential. Those doubts evaporated the next time the Wildcats hit the floor.

Out in Las Vegas, North Carolina became the opponent after COVID-19 issues showed up at Ohio State, and the Wildcats destroyed the Tar Heels by 29 points as Sahvir Wheeler went for 26 points and eight assists.

After dropping another road game to LSU, Kentucky immediately came back and hammered Georgia at home.

The Wildcats have done a great job at avoiding the loss hangover and have delivered some of their best performances of the season coming off a setback.

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Resilient wins

However, not every win is going to be a blowout. Sometimes there will be adversity that hits and basketball teams must find ways to grind through wins. The Wildcats have done that twice in a row following their last two defeats.

After dropping a tough game to Auburn, the Wildcats returned home to face underdog Mississippi State. Behind a spectacular performance from lead guard Iverson Molinar, the game headed to overtime deadlocked at 72 after Kentucky blew a 16-point second-half lead. Yet, Kellan Grady made some big shots and left the Rupp Arena floor with a win.

After a 13-point loss to Tennessee, Kentucky turned around and faced Alabama without its two starting guards. Once the game started, the Crimson Tide got hot from three putting the Wildcats down double-digits early. Again, the Wildcats found a way getting some big individual performance.

The ability to win games in multiple ways coming off a loss tells us a lot about this team. John Calipari has a group that can win the national championship.