'It's March, you win or go home.' Kentucky has mindset that 'every possession matters' vs. Texas

Kentucky’s win over West Virginia was notable, mainly because it marks the first time the program has made the Sweet 16 since 2016. It’s worthy to celebrate a feat of that nature, but at the same time, the Cats have to get ready for their toughest game of this NCAA Tournament run so far against Texas.

The Longhorns are the third overall seed in the tournament, sitting just behind undefeated UConn and one-loss UCLA. Vic Schaefer’s squad is 33-3 on the season has won 10 consecutive games, including winning the SEC Tournament championship in a 17-point victory over South Carolina.

In their second-round matchup against 8-seed Oregon, Texas won 100-58 as junior Madison Booker erupted for 40 points against the Ducks.

Prior to departing for Fort Worth on Thursday, Teonni Key talked about how Kentucky is viewing Saturday’s rematch with Texas.

“We’re super excited,” Key said. “That’s the goal, to keep dancing and we’re pumped. It is a business trip. It’s March, you win or go home. We’re not trying to go home. So, we’re locked in, we’re focused but also soaking in the moment. Not a lot of teams get to this point, so we’re enjoying every step of the way, but also every possession matters.”

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Kentucky played Texas on Feb. 9, falling 64-53 in Austin. It was a one-point game midway through the fourth quarter, and Kenny Brooks‘ team is looking to right their wrongs and prevent the Longhorns from going on a big run to put the game out of reach.

“We learned a lot about their pressure, the way they play,” Key said about what she and the team took away from the loss to Texas earlier in the season. “We also learned a lot about ourselves — things we can get better in. That was two months ago… knowing we’ve grown so much since, adding all of that together, just going out there and playing hard, we know we gotta go out there and cancel out those turnovers, those little mistakes that we had that separated them toward the end of the game.”

Key and the Cats will seek their revenge at 3 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday. If Kentucky is able to pull off the victory, the program will advance to its fifth Elite Eight ever and first since Matthew Mitchell took the program there in 2013.