Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington key to Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament chances

You hear it again and again, year after year, NCAA Basketball Tournament after NCAA Basketball Tournament: It’s all about the guards.

To make your way through the maze that is the 68-team bracket, a team needs not just good guard play. It needs great guard play.

For the Kentucky Wildcats, that means the dynamic duo of Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington, the starting guards who will be playing their first NCAA Tournament games when No. 2 seed UK faces No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in an East Region first-round game at 7:10 p.m. Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

True, both Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz figure into the equation. The 6-foot-5 Grady is more of a wing player, however, a catch-and-shoot threat who is currently trying to get his sweet stroke back. Mintz is the team’s invaluable sixth-man, and even then the 6-3 transfer from Creighton is more comfortable off the ball.

Wheeler is the man with the ball. The 5-9 thrill ride from Houston via New York spent two years with the Georgia Bulldogs before arriving in Lexington through the transfer portal. His first season in blue has seen its ups and downs, but there’s no denying Wheeler is the spark plug that starts the Cats’ engine.

He pushes the pace, perhaps recklessly at times, but his balancing act has improved. Wheeler has reduced his turnovers-per-game average from 4.4 last year at Georgia to 2.9 this season. His assist-per-game average has slipped slightly from 7.4 per game to 6.9, but that has more to do with some injury problems and the ball-handling ability of his backcourt mate. Individually, Wheeler has had five games of 10-or-more assists this season, including 11 in UK’s SEC tourney win over Vanderbilt.

Perimeter shooting has never been his strong suit. Wheeler is often left open for a reason. After shooting 39.9 percent overall and a lowly 22.5 from three last season at Georgia, he has improved to 43.9 percent overall and 30 percent from three. After an 11-game stretch early in the season in which he made just one of 18 three-point shots, Wheeler was 5-of-10 over the last three games of the regular season. He missed all four of his three-point attempts in the conference tournament, however.

Were Washington not in the same league as Auburn’s Jabari Smith, he would have been a strong candidate for SEC Freshman of the Year. Despite battling a nagging ankle injury through most of the season, the Phoenix native averaged 12.5 points and 4.0 assists per game. When a neck injury forced Wheeler to miss UK’s game with Georgia on Jan. 8, Washington stepped in and set a school record with 17 assists.

His poise for a freshman has been impressive. Washington isn’t one to force things. He’s smooth. He lets the game come to him. But when his ankle woes forced him to miss some time, Calipari lamented that the team was without the one Cat who can create his own shot. Sometimes, you want him to be a little more aggressive.

In Kentucky’s opening game of the SEC Tournament, Washington looked like the old TyTy, scoring 25 points in the win over Vandy. In the semifinal loss to Tennessee, he was just 1-of-7 from three-point range, however. Washington wasn’t an outlier, of course. The Cats finished 2-of-20 from behind the arc in the 69-62 loss.

Saint Peter’s offers an interesting first-round challenge. Winners of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Peacocks are a gritty, hard-nosed team that wins with defense. Ken Pomeroy’s advanced analytics rank the Peacocks 34th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. That’s out of 358 Division I teams. Saint Peter’s is fifth nationally in defensive field goal percentage at 38.3.

All that just ups the ante for Wheeler and Washington, a pair of players from opposite coasts, first-timers who will have the ball in their hands. Welcome to the Big Dance. Time to play your best when it matters most. In the NCAA Tournament, it’s the guards that matter most.

This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 11:25 AM.

John Clay

Lexington Herald-Leader

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John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription