'He lives to be motivated' – Kentucky may have made a major mistake ahead of Sweet 16 matchup against Tennessee Vols
The Kentucky Wildcats, perhaps a bit overconfident after their two wins against the Tennessee Vols in the regular season, may have made a big mistake ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup against Rick Barnes' squad. After Kentucky beat Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16, Wildcats guard Lamont Butler pulled a Joe Namath by guaranteeing […]
The Kentucky Wildcats, perhaps a bit overconfident after their two wins against the Tennessee Vols in the regular season, may have made a big mistake ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup against Rick Barnes' squad.
After Kentucky beat Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16, Wildcats guard Lamont Butler pulled a Joe Namath by guaranteeing a win against Tennessee.
"We had a lot of good teams that we played (in the SEC during the regular season), but we stayed resilient, stayed together, and it showed today," said Butler. “Everybody was playing with love and passion for one another and we can’t focus about anything but the next game. We just have a lot of love and we’re going to win that game.”
That comment will almost certainly serve as motivation for the Vols on Friday night in Lexington — especially for guard Zakai Zeigler, who thrives on motivation.
"Kentucky players giving them bulletin board material after their win the other night against Illinois, I think that drives a guy like Zakai Zeigler," said VolQuest's Austin Price on Tuesday during an appearance on Ramon, Kayla, and Will. "He lives to be motivated. And it doesn't take much. You give that guy an inch, he's going to take a mile. And saying 'we're going to win this game', stuff like that, it definitely is going to light the fire. Not that he needs to have it lit, because I can promise you that guy burns 24/7."
Tennessee is already playing inspired basketball right now. UT's players, as guard Jahmai Mashack pointed out after the Vols' win against UCLA, badly want to win a national championship for Barnes.
The Sweet 16 matchup between Tennessee and Kentucky will likely be chippy and emotional, but those are the kinds of games we've seen the Volunteers thrive in before under Barnes.
I don't know how this game will play out, but it wouldn't surprise me if Butler ends up regretting his guarantee by the time the final buzzer sounds on Friday night in Indianapolis.
