UK was off for a four-day Christmas break starting immediately after Thursday’s win against Loyola for a respite from basketball.

And since it was a win, the break is even more relaxing.

“Now we are more relaxed thinking we got the win, instead of taking a loss and thinking about all the things we should have done better,” Anthony Davis said in a release.

UK has plenty of things it can do better, and coach John Calipari will get to that. But for now, approximately one-third of the way through the season, it’s time to “catch our breath and come back,” said Calipari, who gives his teams a few days around Christmas to relax.

“I hope they look back at Christmas as time with their family, Calipari said. “Not that they were tortured over Christmas with basketball while everyone else was enjoying stuff.”

That doesn’t, however, mean players can just sit around.

“He told us to keep up our conditioning,” Kyle Wiltjer said of coach Calipari’s message for the break. “He also told us to enjoy the time with our family. He really emphasized that.”

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