Will Kentucky Wildcats Land On Their Feet

Kentucky headed into this season with more questions than almost anyone in the league. With a first-year head coach and an entirely new team, expectations were measured to say the least. They currently rank in the top 10 in the nation but remain very inconsistent in their defensive performances.

Throughout their last 5 games, Kentucky has allowed opponents to score 90 points or above three times. This makes the Wildcats a hard team to measure in terms of their potential and where they will end up at the end of the season. They’re going into this Saturday with a week off after a crucial loss to Alabama and will face a Vanderbilt team that’s building momentum after back-to-back wins.

What Wildcats Need To Do

Before the game against Alabama, Tyler Hansbrough had an eerie prediction that would ultimately come true. “The one match-up I’m looking at is Grant Nelson vs Andrew Carr, I think that’s gonna be the battle of the bigs.” This would hold true as the Alabama big man would wreak havoc throughout the game, sealing the victory for Alabama with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

The main keys to Kentucky’s success this season has been their high scoring rate and their rebounding as was shown against Texas A&M. They currently sit at second in the NCAA in points per game with 89.2 but are towards the bottom of their conference and the league in scoring defense allowing about 77 points per game overall, and 88.6 points per game to SEC teams. In order to close out the season on a high note, they’re going to have to rely heavily on their rebounding and scoring. Head Coach Mark Pope said after the loss that their success going forward will depend on “how fast we can get better.”

The biggest strengths of the Wildcats have also been proving to be their weaknesses as of late. While they put up impressive games against SEC opponents Mississippi State and Florida, they have squeaked by in other conference wins and have lost to three unranked opponents. Out of four wins vs ranked opponents, their average margin of victory is only six points and most of those points came from the victory vs Texas A&M (82-69).

While Kentucky remains second in the NCAA in scoring, they are last in the SEC in scoring defense and are tied in team rebounds vs opponent rebounds at 36. All of this to say that despite their record this year, the Wildcats don’t hold a favorable statistical advantage against anyone in the SEC which could be their downfall later on.

Strength Of The SEC

With SEC teams riddling the rankings, it should come as no surprise that the conference is a weekly battleground. Though Georgia fell out of the rankings this week, the SEC still has 9 teams in the top 25 which is the most of any conference. The Wildcats will have another chance against Alabama on February 22nd, which could either prove to be a gift or a curse. Thirteen games remain on the season so Kentucky is in a decent spot but will need to go through a gauntlet of ranked teams first. Half of their remaining games are against ranked opponents, providing a perfect opportunity for the squad to sink or swim.

Should they end the season with ten or eleven more wins, Kentucky could find themselves back in the top 5. The Wildcats have performed well against SEC opponents and even beat Duke early in the season, proving that their biggest challenges reside in their own conference. Alabama will face Vanderbilt tonight which will provide a lot of insight into those two teams and give Kentucky a preview of their Saturday opponent.