Blair Green and Kentucky will take on Idaho State in the NCAA Tournament Sunday. (SEC Photo)
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart had a simple message for coach Kyra Elzy after her team got a bid to the NCAA Tournament where it will play Idaho State Sunday.
“He wants us to do well, but one of the things he talked about was to try and enjoy the moment, have fun. Obviously, we are here to take care of business, but he wanted to let me know that he is here, he is cheering for us, and he looks forward to us having a great NCAA Tournament,” Elzy said Friday in San Antonio.
Kentucky has had a significant break since losing in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals to Georgia and Elzy hopes the time has been put to good use.
“I had the opportunity to have a team meeting, have one-on-one player meetings with everyone, and I really took the time to reset, refocus, revisit our goals. But I would say we have the best practice that week that we had all year. So, we had a focused mind,” Elzy said.
“Everyone is willing to buy into their roles. One thing I challenged the team with is that we are going to lay our pride to the side, everybody is going to buy into their roles, do it to the best of their ability, be confident. Let’s have fun. We are talented, we are battle-tested, and then use all of those experiences here in this tournament.”
Guard Chasity Patterson said having a few days off after the SEC Tournament helped rejuvenate the team.
“We took a little mental break from everything and that was good to regroup and come together and work on things that we needed to work on,” Patterson said.
She doesn’t think it is that complicated for what UK must do to make an NCAA tourney run.
“For us, just being intense on both ends of the court and knowing and following the game plan the coaches give us,” Patterson said. “Just playing our game and getting up and down the floor in transition and being aggressive on both ends.”
Patterson said even in the “NCAA bubble” in Texas the Cats are preparing like they have for any other game with film and game plan study.
“Protocol is different as we go through testing and stuff. It is different, but so far it has been good,” Patterson said.
Elzy said the team was tested daily for COVID before entering the NCAA bubble to get ready for tourney play.
“Just being in your own room. We were allowed to go in our team room yesterday, so that was good, we did painting with a twist. So, something besides just sitting in your room. But that’s just part of what we have to do. We have sacrificed all year in order to play,” Elzy said.
“And shoutout to the medical staffs and the NCAA Tournament for being able to make it happen. So, it is an adjustment, but what we have to do to play.”
Patterson said the Cats are ready to play, too.
“Every game matters. Moving forward, that is going to be good for us because we are going to take every game like it is our last and that is the mindset that we will have coming into every game,” Patterson said.
