Kentucky needs focus each game

LOUISVILLE — If anyone can understand the expectations that Kentucky faces when it starts NCAA Tournament play against Hampton Thursday night here, it might be Tyus Edney.

He became an instant UCLA hero 20 years ago when he took an inbounds pass under his own basket against Missouri with 4.8 seconds left in a second-round NCAA Tournament game and weaved his way up the court to score as the buzzer sounded to give the Bruins a one-point win. UCLA then went on to win the national championship.

“Twenty years. Time went fast,” said Edney, who is here with UCLA for the NCAA Tournament as the Bruins’ director of basketball operations.

That UCLA team was ranked No. 1 almost all season — Kentucky has been No. 1 every week this year and starts NCAA play with a 34-0 record.

Earlier this season Edney, who played professional basketball for 15 years, watched the Cats dominate UCLA earlier this year in Chicago when the Bruins scored just seven points in the first half.

“I didn’t know if they would not lose to this point. They have had a couple of wars that they were able to pull out and that says a lot about them that they can even win the tough ones,” said Edney Wednesday as UCLA prepared to play UAB Thursday. “The tournament is all about winning the tough ones and I am sure they will eventually maybe have a tough game and they will be able to figure it out probably like they did during the season.”

What advice as a former champion would he give UK — or any team hoping to win the title?

“I think you have to respect every opponent. You have to treat every game like it is the final game and expect you will have a tough one somewhere. Have that focus every game because you never know. This is the tournament,” Edney said.

Edney says UK will have pressure to win, but not to forget that opponents playing Kentucky are going to fell pressure as well.

“They have four good guards, three center, three forwards. They don’t ever have a drop off I don’t think. It’s like every guy on the floor is a starter and that’s what makes it so tough to play against them,” Edney said. “If one guy is not great, the other guy will be great. That’s what makes them so good.

“I think it is something where you know coming in that you almost have to play perfect to beat them. They have pressure on them, but that’s a lot of pressure on the opponent, too. If you have a lapse for five minutes, that can make them go on a 10-0 run or more. In one sense they have pressure to win, but it’s also pressure on the other team that they have to be at their best at all times just to have a chance with Kentucky.”

So would he rather be on the favorite like UCLA was and Kentucky is?

“Yeah, who wouldn’t?” he laughed and said. “I think the year we won we were (ranked) first most of the season and you get used to that. It raises your level just to try and keep that going. When you come into a tournament, you are used to being in that position and it helps every game you are in.”

He says the Bruins felt like a team of destiny after his dramatic drive and score beat Missouri.

“We knew we won our tough one. Every team knows in the tournament you will have some tough games. Then we knew we had a good chance if we would take care of business and not let happen again to win the title,” Edney said.

The former UCLA guard also thinks the tourney path that has UK starting in Louisville and then going to Cleveland and Indianapolis if it keeps winning bodes well for the Wildcats because of their fans.

“I think it helps. You did your work during the season so you can kind of have the home court advantage. That’s why you want to go in No. 1,” Edney said. “I remember we were at Boise and then northern California and then Seattle (for the Final Four). It helped being west for us and that’s the reward of being No. 1 during the season.

“You have earned it and have been No. 1 during the season, so you should be able to play on your side of town really. That’s what Kentucky is going to do and that’s only going to make them harder to beat. And it’s not like they need a lot of help.