“Living on a Prayer” rang out from the UK Pep Band with 2:53 remaining in UK’s home court face-off with Georgia on Wednesday night. In those final minutes, the Cats came up short with a 90-85 loss, but the ripples extend beyond a post-game news conference.

Now the Cats are sitting, maybe praying, about their future. With just one regular season game left — at Florida on Saturday — the Cats (19-11, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) will be living on the prayers of Big Blue Nation all the way to Selection Sunday.

It’s also a feeling that sophomore Patrick Patterson said the Cats know they are facing.

“It’s a very small margin for us to lose and still make the NCAA tournament,” Patterson said. “It might take us winning the SEC tournament now in order to make it. But we’ll be ready to compete.”

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The Cats’ competitiveness, however, is something UK head coach Billy Gillispie said is the problem with the team. He said the Cats don’t accept challenges individually or as a team.

“I don’t think they’re competing enough out there,” Gillispie said. “That’s my fault too. We haven’t regressed as a team, but we’re not competing enough or haven’t accepted a challenge.”

The Cats still have one challenge left before the SEC tournament in Tampa, Fla.: a Saturday date with the Gators. Gillispie said he expects his team to get ready to get back to work, because he knows the season isn’t over yet — nor are the challenges. Despite having a top-five scorer in the nation, junior Jodie Meeks, and a big man among the nation’s best in field goal percentage, Patterson, Gillispie said that’s not what he’s concerned about.

“There’s one stat that matters: winning,” Gillispie said. “You can throw out the good, bad and ugly stats at me, but all that matters is wins and losses.”

It’ll take a few more wins to get the Cats to the NCAA tournament, Patterson said, but he’s counting on the Cats stepping up to the task. Patterson said he refuses to be the first UK team to not make the NCAA tournament since 1991.

“I don’t want to play in the NIT,” Patterson said. “I don’t want to be the team people go back and say they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.”

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