Kentucky's expected waltz through Southeastern Conference basketball has a different feel 95 minutes later.
After roaring through November and December, John Calipari's top-ranked Wildcats were taken into overtime last Tuesday night at Rupp Arena before escaping Ole Miss 89-86. They ventured to Texas A&M on Saturday and needed even longer to prevail, topping the Aggies 70-64 in double overtime.
"I think every game we play is someone's Super Bowl and that they're going to play out of their mind," Calipari said Monday on the SEC teleconference. "The kid (Stefan Moody) from Mississippi had cramps and says, 'You can't have cramps at the biggest moment of your life.'
"The biggest moment of your life? That's how guys feel playing against us, and that's what I'm trying to tell our team. If we don't play with desperation and the other team does, then we're losing."
Kentucky had one single-digit victory before conference play, with that being the Dec. 27 triumph at state rival Louisville. Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA were among the early-season blowout victims for the Wildcats, so why have the struggles coincided with the start of SEC action?
"Familiarity," Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings said. "Some of it is just league play itself, because I think the intensity goes up and the physicality goes up. Everything just tends to go up a little bit. Familiarity would be my best explanation, and I'm not even sure that's it, but that would be my best guess."
That certainly was reflected with what transpired Sunday, with No. 2 Duke losing at North Carolina State and No. 4 Wisconsin losing at Rutgers.
Kentucky is 15-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC entering tonight's game against visiting Missouri, which opened as a 28-point underdog. The Wildcats will travel later this week to Alabama.
"Every team in the country right now has issues, and every team is working through something," Calipari said. "I'm happy I'm coaching this team. I believe I have the best team in the country with the best players. We've got some things to figure out, and we'll do it together."
Dane in studio
Dane Bradshaw was among Bruce Pearl's favorite players when Pearl coached Tennessee, and now Bradshaw is one of his favorite television personalities.
Bradshaw, who is from Memphis but now lives in Chattanooga, spent this past Saturday as a studio host for the SEC Network in Charlotte. He also has worked a handful of games this season as an analyst.
"He's doing a great job and represents our league really, really well," Pearl said. "I especially like it when he trash talks his former coach, and I know it motivated (Auburn junior forward) Cinmeon Bowers when they said he wouldn't have 10 points and 10 rebounds (in Saturday night's win over Missouri), and he almost had double in both. Obviously I say that in jest, because I think it's great to have Dane on that network."
Pearl coached six seasons at Tennessee through 2011, and he is in his first season at Auburn. In between, he did some commentating for ESPN and said Bradshaw asked for advice.
"The biggest thing I told him was to tell them what you think," Pearl said. "Don't edit anything as long as it's how you feel and that it's based on the facts. I told him that if he picked against Auburn not to worry about it, because that's his job.
"He's got a good grasp of the overall league, and I think what he's found out most is that those days in Charlotte are long days."
Trip to dentist
Georgia didn't draw the easiest start to conference play, losing close games to Arkansas and LSU. To avoid an 0-3 SEC start, the Bulldogs must win Wednesday night at Vanderbilt.
Bulldogs coach Mark Fox believes coaching in Memorial Gym is about as fun as traveling to the dentist.
"It's the one time you've got to coach from the baseline, and that's very different," Fox said. "When the teams are away from you, they're too far away to hear you. When they're on your end, there are nine players between you and your point guard.
"It's obviously an advantage for Vanderbilt, because they do this about 15 or 16 times a year. They're used to it, but it's a challenge for the rest of us."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 523-757-6524.