Dark clouds and silver linings for Kentucky basketball nearing the home stretch
We have reached the halfway point of Kentucky basketball’s SEC season. The Wildcats are 7-2 with nine down, nine to go. Four home games remain with five on the road, starting Saturday afternoon when John Calipari’s club takes on Tennessee in Knoxville.
With that in mind, here are some dark clouds and silver linings as UK approaches the stretch run:
Dark cloud: According to Ken Pomeroy’s numbers, the Cats rank 61st in defensive efficiency. That’s the lowest defensive ranking of any Calipari team at UK, with the exception of the 2012-13 team that ended up 88th in adjusted defensive efficiency. Apologies for referencing a painful memory, but that team went to the NIT. And lost in the first round.
Silver lining: UK held its last three opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor. Vanderbilt shot 38.9 percent. Auburn shot 35.3 percent. And Mississippi State shot 36.8 percent in the Bulldogs’ 80-72 loss to the Cats at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night.
Dark cloud: Kentucky is shooting just 31.9 percent from three-point range on the season, which ranks 238th out of 353 Division I teams. The Cats were just 1-of-10 from three-point land against Mississippi State on Tuesday.
Silver lining: Calipari’s team is making up for some of those three-point misses by being stellar at the free throw line. The Cats are making 78.3 percent of their free throws, which ranks sixth nationally. Over the final 2:21 on Tuesday night, UK was a perfect 16-of-16 at the foul line.
Dark cloud: Kentucky is just 1-4 when Nick Richards fails to score in double digits.
Silver lining: After scoring just seven points with seven rebounds in the 75-66 loss at Auburn last Saturday, where Richards was challenged by Auburn’s 6-foot-10 Austin Wiley, Richards bounced back with 27 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Mississippi State. Richards scored 25 points in the second half.
Dark cloud: Ashton Hagans went through a recent three-game stretch when the point guard was credited with just one more assist (16) than turnovers (15).
Silver lining: Hagans returned to form Tuesday, dishing six assists compared to just two turnovers in 35 minutes. If this team is going to make a move in March, Hagans has to make good decisions with the basketball.
Dark cloud: Rebounding remains a problem. After being out-rebounded by 14 at Auburn, the Cats were beaten by three on the boards Tuesday night. Auburn and Mississippi State each grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
Silver lining: See next silver lining.
Dark cloud: For two straight seasons the talented EJ Montgomery has been inconsistent enough to make any coach tear his hair out, and Calipari has plenty of hair.
Silver lining: You could almost see a light bulb illuminating above Montgomery’s head Tuesday night as the sophomore was much more aggressive and played with much more energy. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes.
Dark cloud: After a three-game spurt in which he scored 10 points at Arkansas and had back-to-back games of seven rebounds each at South Carolina and Arkansas, Keion Brooks’ production has slipped. The key reserve was on the floor for just five minutes Tuesday, when he failed to score.
Silver lining: After saying he needed to recapture his earlier form, graduate student Nate Sestina provided a lift against Mississippi State. The forward scored six points and collected three rebounds in 15 minutes. And, after being prodded by teammates, he was back to his old talking self on the floor.
Dark cloud: Heading into Wednesday night’s play, Kentucky was just 27th in the NET computer rankings. That would seem to put the Cats anywhere from a No. 4 to a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Silver lining: There are still nine regular-season games, plus the SEC Tournament to go. And this is a year where there is no dominant team. The postseason should be wide, wide open.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 4:23 PM.
