John Calipari refutes idea Kentucky’s win over Providence provided sense of relief to avoid upset
By Paul Harvey
Published:
John Calipari guided Kentucky to an NCAA Tournament win Friday night, downing No. 11 seed Providence 61-53. The Wildcats will move on to face Kansas State in the Round of 32 Sunday.
With so many upsets in the realm of March Madness (including Fairleigh Dickinson shocking the world with a win over No. 1 seed Purdue), Calipari was asked about a sense of relief to avoid an upset of his own. He pushed back on any idea of relief, saying instead he wants his team to focus on joy in the NCAA Tournament.
“If in this tournament, winning is a relief, what the heck are you doing here? This is joy. In this tournament doesn’t matter how you win,” said Calipari. “There are teams that have been knocked out. You just keep playing and have joy and enjoy (it).
“We’re not like ‘We’re going to win because everybody will be mad if we don’t.’ What? No! (I) could care less if they’re mad, or happy, or sad. This is bout this group of young people. I want them to enjoy this experience. No one is going to put added things on their shoulders. I won’t let them. Like I told them, have a ball today, and they did.”
“If winning is a relief, what the heck are you doing here?” ?
Winning is JOY@UKCoachCalipari was preaching after @KentuckyMBB‘s W over Providence. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/rAHXNjcKww
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023
What’s next for Kentucky?
While the opening-round win is a good one for Calipari’s Wildcats, they will not have much time to turn around and face No. 3 seed Kansas State on Sunday. Kansas State is led by former Florida star Keyontae Johnson who averages 17.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
As a team, Kansas State averages 75.5 points per game and is coming off a 77-65 win over Montana State in the opening round. Sunday’s matchup of Wildcat programs is set for 2:40 pm ET on CBS.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
