Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

College basketball analytics believe Kentucky's defense will be better than the offense

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 1:57 PM ET

In year one as the head coach at Kentucky, Mark Pope took his team all the way to the Sweet 16 despite injuries to some key players, which had Big Blue Nation fired up about the future of Kentucky basketball. Year one was a massive success for Coach Pope, but his team had one glaring issue.

The glaring issue last season for the Wildcats was, without question, the defense. Early into the season, Kentucky's defense was atrocious, but over the course of the season, things started to turn around for the Wildcats on this end of the floor. While the defense did start to improve, it was the issue in the loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16.

This is back-to-back seasons where the Wildcats have had an elite offense, but the defense has struggled. Analytics don't believe this will be an issue any longer for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Bart Torvik is one of the top analytics pages for college basketball, and this website believes Kentucky's defense is going to be better than its offense this season. The defense is ranked ninth in college basketball ahead of the season, and the offense is ranked 25th.

Now it's hard to believe that Pope's offense is going to ever be 25th in the nation, but if the offense and defense were both in the top 15 of these analytic pages, it would be massive for the Wildcats.

This season, Coach Pope has a lot of elite athletes who are taking pride in defense, and this should show up on the floor. Once Jayden Quaintance is back on the floor and healthy, he will be one of the best defenders in all of college basketball.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

With Quaintance matched with players like Mo Dioubate, Otega Oweh, and Denzel Aberdeen, this Kentucky team has elite defensive players all over the floor.

Knowing how much of a struggle the defense was last season, it is clear that Coach Pope is doing everything in his power to make sure that a big focus of this offseason is making sure these defensive problems are put to bed.

This season, Kentucky's defense is not going to be a problem for the Wildcats; it is going to be a strength. It is great to see that Coach Pope is able to address issues from the year before and find fixes for the next season. This will pay off in the long run for the Kentucky Wildcats.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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