Kentucky's March Madness Push: Florida Showdown

0:00On March 5, Kentucky's men's basketball team faces a tough road to the postseason. With only nine usable players left, the wildcats need to string together wins and back-to-back days at the SEC tournament just to advance and boost their NCAA seating. Coach Mark Pope knows he cannot risk burning out his key guys early, especially with a critical home match-up against 5th rank Florida on Saturday. The guards are already carrying a heavy load. Over the last five games, Otega Owe has averaged 35.6 minutes per game, Denzel Aberdeen 34.9, and Colin Chandler 31.8. Pope might need to push those numbers even higher if Kentucky wants to make a deep run this March. Pope calls this winning time, stressing that no one will hold back now. He highlighted how huge the Florida game is for SEC tournament seating, which could make or break their bracket path. To manage the thin roster, Pope has tweaked rotations for extra-restoring games.

1:00He plans to go deeper on the bench when possible, and piece together line-ups that keep the team fresh. Kentucky steps up against the gators with everything on the line, setting the stage for a high stakes push into tournament play. To manage the thin roster, Pope has tweaked rotations for extra-restoring games. He plans to go deeper on the bench when possible, and piece together line-ups that keep the team fresh.