Kentucky is one of the top 12 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Despite the placement in the upper echelon of the tournament, it doesn’t change the approach going into Friday night’s opener against Troy in Milwaukee.
”I don't think anything changes for us,” Kentucky guard Koby Brea said. “I think we're still going to continue to hunt. It doesn't matter who we're playing against. We have the underdog mentality.”
Brea said the team’s makeup of players who competed at the mid-major level is “going to help us a lot” when it comes to taking on the Trojans in the tournament opener. He added the approach will prove to be beneficial, especially against the Trojans.
“We don't look at it like it's a mid-major team, a low-major team (we are playing),” he said. “For us, this is another opportunity to really be ourselves and be the best version of ourselves and just take care of business, like, this is your last game. (We have an) underdog mentality, for sure.”
Last season, Brea and his former Dayton teammates eased by Nevada in the opening round before losing to Arizona in the second round. Brea said Troy is similar to the Flyer squad that played against the Trojans last season.
“I think they have a pretty similar team after looking at their roster,” Brea said. “Every team that's in this tournament is pretty good, so we’ve just got to be able to lock in on them and focus on them.”
Brea added the Wildcats can’t look ahead to potential matchups beyond the tournament opener. He added they have to take it one game at a time once the dancing begins this week. The Wildcats (22-11) have won just one tournament game, including two opening-round exits, during the past five years. Kentucky lost to Oakland in the first round last year in Pittsburgh. Three years ago, Kentucky dropped a narrow decision to Saint Peters in Indianapolis.
“I think the most important thing we can do is just look forward to the first game that we're playing,” Brea said. “I’m looking forward to these couple of days just scouting them and seeing what the game plan is going to be and being able to take care of business first and then keep on doing special things.”
Kentucky split two games in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Wildcats defeated Oklahoma in the opener and lost to Alabama in the quarterfinals. Kentucky, Brea said, has moved past the disappointing loss to the Crimson Tide.
“We're past that,” he said. “The biggest thing for us is just making sure that our minds are fresh and healthy and the same thing with our body, just being physically ready to go out there. We’re looking forward to this opportunity. We're not thinking about what just happened, what has happened in the past, it's a new season for us now, so I'm looking forward to that.”
GAMETRACKER: Kentucky vs. Troy, 6:10 p.m., Friday. TV/Radio: CBS, UK Radio Network SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX, WiLLiE 102.
Koby Brea lines up a 3-pointer against Alabama. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
