Brown: UK basketball showed it can flip switch in a big game, but that won't work in March

LEXINGTON — There goes Kentucky.

Making the college basketball world believe it is worthy of discussion among national title contenders with another dazzling offensive performance Saturday.

Dazzling might not even do it justice the way the 17th-ranked Wildcats outperformed the nation’s No. 1 offense, according to KenPom.com, in its 117-95 win over 13th-ranked Alabama at Rupp Arena. Even Bama coach Nate Oats was impressed.

“I don't know what kind of records they set tonight on offense; I'm guessing they set a few,” Oats offered.

Kentucky shot a season-high 63.1% from the floor, which was the fourth time this season it surpassed 60%. It made 13 of 24 3-pointers, the fifth game it shot better than 50% from behind the arc, and was the fifth time it topped the 100-point mark.

With eight minutes left and the Cats having already surpassed the century mark holding a 35-point lead, they were shooting 70% from the floor and 70% from behind the arc before those percentages dropped with the game well decided.

Freshman forward Justin Edwards looked the part of all the hype that preceded him, scoring a game-high 28 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the floor.

Absurd numbers. All of them.

I’m just not buying it.

Not until UK realizes that March begins at the end of the week, meaning the postseason is near and it isn’t kind to teams that play like they can turn on the intensity when they need to.

My memory is long enough to recall the Cats had a 15-point lead at LSU on Wednesday but did not leave Baton Rouge with a victory.

That’s how March will do you.

Put UK on a neutral floor right now against all eight of the teams that beat it and UK would be favored against all but Kansas and Tennessee.

But Kentucky has eight losses for a reason. The Cats tend to play to the level of their competition.

“The way they were locked in prior to this game, two games ago (at Auburn), other big time (games) — we just got to get locked in,” UK coach John Calipari said. “And young kids, they lose focus, and then they get in the game and they start panicking a little bit.”

It was easy for the Cats to be charged about Bama. The Crimson Tide entered the game alone in first place with a one-game lead over Tennessee in the SEC standings.

UK was in a bit of a must-win situation in a measuring-stick kind of game. Kentucky needed to win to stay in contention for a top-four seed and a double bye in the SEC Tournament and also not lose seeding ground in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament committee.

But what’s going to happen when the Cats face a double-digit seed from a conference they never heard of and a school that hasn’t even been Division I more than 50 years?

Or what’s going to happen when they face a team that plays defense greater than the NBA All-Star level that the Tide was on Saturday?

Will the Cats still come with the same effort?

It’s the constant battle Calipari has faced all season. And it doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight just because Kentucky won a big game.

“I mean, they're 19-year-olds, they do stupid stuff,” Calipari said. “They get in the game, and your mind is not into it. We got the youngest team in the country, but we got a talented team. And I said I'm not trading for anybody. I believe in them.”

It’s going to take more convincing starting with Tuesday’s trip to sleepy Starkville, where Mississippi State will test if the Cats can maintain a level of consistency.

With just four regular-season games remaining, now is the time for the Cats to gain postseason momentum. Games against Arkansas and Vanderbilt before closing with Tennessee will also be a barometer whether Kentucky is taking every team seriously or if the possibility of an NCAA flameout is awaiting.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball showed it can flip switch, but March requires more