Kentucky's loss to Vanderbilt in the championship game of the SEC tournament didn't cost the Wildcats their top overall seed in the upcoming NCAA tourney, and it apparently didn't affect the Wildcats' confidence either.
"I think we're still confident in our ability," senior guard Darius Miller said after the Wildcats lost a six-point lead over the final five minutes to fall, 71-64, to the Commodores. "Vandy's a good team.
"It would have been real tough to beat them three times in one season. They played extremely well and took advantage of every opportunity.
"I don't think this affects our confidence at all. We're going to get back in the gym and go to work."
Sophomore forward Terrence Jones was more direct after seeing Kentucky's winning streak snapped at 24 games.
"I think it makes us more hungry," Jones said. "We want to go harder just taking an 'L' like this and our win streak being done.
"I think it's going to make us go back to just playing hungrier."
As the top seed in the national tourney and No. 1 in the South Region, the Wildcats will play their first game on March 15 in nearby Louisville.
But they won't know their opponent until after the "First Four" segment is played two days earlier in Dayton, Ohio.
The Wildcats will get the winner of the game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State.
Western Kentucky made the field despite a 15-18 record by winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Mississippi Valley won the SWAC regular-season and tournament titles.
Assuming a win -- a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed in the tourney -- the Wildcats will get the winner of the 8-9 matchup between Iowa State and 2011 national champion Connecticut in the next round.
Awaiting in the regional could be No. 4 South seed Indiana, the only other team besides Vandy that has a win over the Wildcats this season.
NOTES, QUOTES
-Kentucky will be making its 51st official NCAA tournament appearance (its 1988 appearance was vacated) when it takes on the winner of the Mississippi Valley State-Western Kentucky game. The Wildcats haven't lost their first game in the tourney since 1982, when as a No. 5 seed they were bounced 50-44 by Middle Tennessee State, an 11th seed, in the Midwest Region in Nashville, Tenn.
-A potential matchup between Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State would bring together Delta Devils coach Sean Woods and his alma mater. Woods was a member of the Kentucky team dubbed the "Unforgettables," who had stood with the Wildcats through the probation-plagued late 1980s.
In a 1992 NCAA regional, he hit the basket that gave Kentucky the lead with 2.1 seconds remaining and set up one of the tourney's most memorable moments, the shot Christian Laettner hit at the buzzer after taking a long inbounds pass from Grant Hill to send Duke to the 1992 Final Four with a one-point win over the Wildcats.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I hope we are. I love New Orleans. I hope we are." -- Coach John Calipari, asked about his chances of getting back to New Orleans, site of the SEC tourney, for the NCAA's Final Four.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
SCOUTING REPORT: It's difficult to take the ball inside against Kentucky not only because of the presence of F Anthony Davis but because of F Terrence Jones' shot-blocking ability as well. The Wildcats get their points not only from Davis and Jones inside, but both can hit jumpers as well. G Marquis Teague is playing with more confidence not only with his ballhandling but his shooting as well. F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, G Doron Lamb, and G Darius Miller also can erupt for big scoring games.
FUTURES WATCH: It looks to be a whole new cast for Kentucky again next season. Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, and probably Michael Kidd-Gilchrist -- though he said recently he is returning -- are strong candidates for early entry into the NBA draft, and Darius Miller is a senior. Of course, coach John Calipari has another top recruiting class coming in.
REGULAR SEASON REVIEW: Were it not for a 3-point shot at the buzzer by Indiana's Christian Watford, Kentucky would have finished the regular season unbeaten. The Wildcats became the third team to go undefeated in SEC play since the league expanded to 12 teams for the 1991-92 season, and the six-game margin matched the conference record for the biggest spread ever between first and second place.
ROSTER REPORT
-Freshman F Anthony Davis missed an opportunity to become just the fifth player from Kentucky and only seventh overall to sweep both regular-season MVP and tournament MVP honors in the SEC in the same season. Vandy's John Jenkins earned the award.
-Sophomore F Terrence Jones had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the SEC tourney title game against Vandy for his second double-double of the tourney. He needs five points to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career.
-Freshman F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist came off the bench for the first time this season after voluntarily giving up his starting spot to senior Darius Miller in an effort to snap him out of his slump. It worked to the extent that Miller, who was scoreless in Kentucky's first two tourney games, led the Wildcats with 16 points against Vandy.
