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On Wednesday night when No. 20 UK defeated the Missouri Tigers 88-54, the Cats accomplished something they haven’t done since November. Something UK head coach John Calipari and his team can draw on when they’re facing adversity in late March.

The Cats won three games in a row for the first time since their 7-0 start.

And in that 7-0 start, UK only beat one top-100 team (Duke) in Ken Pomeroy’s current college basketball rankings. Since then, UK has five wins in the KenPom top-100. 

But it wasn’t a thrilling top-100 victory that sparked this midseason UK run. Instead it was a loss – to a 9-10 Auburn team.

After the loss at Auburn, the Cats bounced back to earn their first three-game winning streak in almost two months – allowing opponents to average 59 ppg, shoot 34.5 percent from the floor and 26.8 percent from three in that span.

“If we hadn’t lost (at Auburn), I may not have been able to get this team to think more desperate,” Calipari said. “To play with a refuse to lose attitude. It may not have happened.”

Despite the seven-game winning streak to begin the season, this current three-game streak should be much more valuable to Calipari. Now experiencing true road games and considerably tougher competition, the Cats have found a rhythm and run with it.

“You can see in the last couple of game we have played, we played with more energy,” freshman Skal Labissiere said. “Everyone is playing their roles now.”

But the work is far from over for UK. The team faces another demanding road test in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday against the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks. The momentum UK is riding could be totally diminished if the Cats can’t prove they can win in a hostile environment.

Just 2-3 in true road contests this year, UK has to learn to win on the road to keep the ball rolling. The Cats will travel to Kansas on Saturday, then get right back on the road for Tuesday’s matchup at Tennessee.

“We are going to go into Kansas and play hard,” Isaiah Briscoe said. “Hopefully we win the game, but other than that we are going to keep doing what we do.”

If UK can’t end its two-game road trip with at least one win (although two would be ideal), any momentum UK had would quickly evaporate.

Calipari said he believes the source of the team’s late success comes from junior forward Derek Willis, who had a career-high 18 points along with 12 rebounds in 25 minutes against Missouri.

“I’m going to be honest with you, a big part of it is putting Derek Willis in the role that he’s in has changed us. It’s just changed our team,” Calipari said. “He’s playing desperate. He’s rebounding with two hands. And basically, he’s put a couple guys on the bench.”

With Willis settling nicely into his role as not only a starter but also a contributor, UK looks to be as strong as ever.

Now possessing a three-game winning streak and a team that has begun to find its identity through breakout players, stretching the winning streak to six is a key as the regular season winds down.

“So, you go through a season, there are ups and downs, I’ve done this for 30 years now,” Calipari said. “My whole job is, are we playing our best in March? That’s what I do.”

If the Cats can string together six straight wins, it would make Calipari’s job a whole lot easier when UK is facing adversity in March.

The UK head coach can confidently tell his team, “We’ve won six straight before, why not do it again?”