Cats entering key road stretch

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By Les Johns | @KernelJohns

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The Cats struggle away from Rupp Arena and the Razorbacks don’t lose at home.

The next two games are indeed the most important on the schedule for the Cats, but they won’t have the luxury of the home-court pre-game introduction video to remind themselves of that.

The three-game win streak has temporarily moved the Cats off the ledge of the bubble, but the final three games of the season can send them spiraling a number of different directions.

Back-to-back losses on the road to Arkansas and Georgia, and the Cats could once again be on the outside looking in from an NCAA tourney perspective.

However, if they defy the odds and win both, they will host the Florida Gators next Saturday with the SEC regular-season title within their reach, a goal that nobody would have fathomed reachable a short two weeks ago.

The Cats are 4-5 in road games this season. Arkansas, which hosts the Cats in Fayetteville on Saturday, are 16-1 at home and a perfect 7-0 in the SEC at home this season. The Razorbacks have taken Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee to the woodshed at Bud Walton Arena.

Even Georgia (13-15, 7-8 SEC) is dangerous at home, with conference wins over South Carolina, Texas A&M and LSU so far.

Here are three keys to the Cats becoming road warriors and returning to Rupp next Saturday with a chance to play for the SEC title:

1. Block out the noise

Bud Walton Arena will be loud, and at some point the Razorbacks will make a run that will bring the noise to ear-splitting levels. The Cats must stay poised and not let a 6-0 run become a 16-2 knockout run.

Despite Julius Mays’ assertion that the Florida crowd in Gainesville had no impact on the Cats, it clearly did. They got rattled and had a hard time hearing directions from the bench.

The newly implemented offensive system of spreading the floor and allowing guards Archie Goodwin and Ryan Harrow to create off the dribble will work better in the hostile environment.

2. Remember what brought them back to this point

The Cats have had to fight, scratch and claw to get to this point. The Razorbacks might have played themselves into the NIT with their road loss at LSU earlier this week, but they are still ridiculously tough at home.

If the Cats take a couple possessions off or relax for just a couple of minutes, Arkansas will take advantage and the Cats will come away with a loss that could ultimately keep them out of the Big Dance.

3. Don’t let one mistake lead to another

UK head coach John Calipari has said that he has just become accustomed to the fact that twice a game, Goodwin will take a bad shot or make a bad decision.

It’s what happens after those mistakes that Calipari wants his team to better control. The Hogs will force tempo and cause turnovers.  The Cats’ responses to those mistakes will determine the game, and ultimately their road to the NCAA or NIT.