Calipari: Cats can't keep going to late-game extremes

Like basketball's version of Goldilocks, Kentucky Coach John Calipari continues to search for — ahhh — just the right way to play the final few minutes of a game.

The Cats were too cool down the stretch of Tuesday's victory over Mississippi State. They largely dismissed time and score and played freely and loosely. Turnovers and air balls ensued as a 13-point cushion with barely three minutes left dwindled to a four-point paper towel with 40 seconds still to play.

This came after Calipari saw UK players as too hot — too anxious — because of the close score and ticking clock at the ends of earlier games. So he had suggested the Cats not look at the scoreboard.

"Forget about the score," he said after Tuesday's game. "Let's execute. Don't look at the score. I'll look at the score. You just play and execute.

"So, obviously, they weren't looking at the score," he added as reporters chuckled. "They just were shooting balls, trying to make plays. So they're listening to me, anyway."

Gina Philips Jamie Gunns Ananda Lewis Kate Bosworth Tamala Jones