Kentucky salvaged the week with a 63-57 road win over Arkansas last night. The Cats improved to 5-2 in the SEC and 15-4 overall. Lets dive into some takeaways.
The Young Cats Overcome A Shooting Slump
For the first 10 minutes it felt like Kentucky couldn’t make a shot. They started the game 1/15 from the floor and had just 4 points at the 10-minute mark of the first half. This was despite getting some good looks at the rim and a few wide-open threes. The misses seemed to invigorate Arkansas as they started selling out at the rim and sensed an upset brewing.
Fortunately, Kentucky did not panic and kept the defensive intensity at an acceptable level. Arkansas was only up 14-4 after that opening slop fest. Kentucky outscored them 59-43 (and the final 4 Arkansas points in that run were in garbage time) in the final 30 minutes of the game. The stats don’t paint a pretty picture but Kentucky badly outplayed Arkansas. If they make 3 or 4 of those missed layups in the first 10 minutes, they probably end up winning by 15+.
Cal Found a Rotation and Pants’d Muss
There was much handwringing about rotations after the South Carolina loss. Cal rode the guys who were performing. 4 guys played 30+ minutes (DJ, Reed, Reeves, and Tre) and Ugo was given the bulk of the minutes at the 5. That lineup played almost exclusively down the stretch of the 2nd half and it worked.
Cal also made a subtle adjustment in the 2nd half that opened up Kentucky’s offense. Arkansas knew that DJ Wagner isn’t particularly a threat to shoot off a screen (something he needs to do because he’s shooting +35% from 3 in SEC play). They were basically funneling him into the paint where they had a good shot-blocker while staying attached on Reed/Reeves. Cal flipped the script with DJ moving off-ball. Reed initiating offense opened the floor up because Arkansas refused to adjust.
Elite rolling out of the ball from Cal.
Defense Takes A Step
Lets start this by saying Arkansas is a travesty on offense. They (allegedly) kicked a starting guard off of the team right before tipoff which also didn’t help them. Their offense is basically reliant on foul-hunting, hitting tough shots, and using their defense to create turnovers so they can run. Kentucky played good defense without fouling and avoided live-ball turnovers. Arkansas hit some tough shots but aren’t anywhere good enough to win a game like that.
Special credit to DJ and Ugo who on re-watch had two of the better defensive performances on the team (but everyone was improved). It still isn’t perfect but for those who worry about the metrics, Kentucky jumped 25 spots last night from the mid-90’s to 70 for Kenpom AdjD. The margins are thin with these metrics and fans probably shouldn’t worry about them so much.
What Does It Mean
The fan base is as antsy as I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime. Kentucky had to have this win or things might have gotten really toxic (which is a shame). Most importantly though it was an adult performance. Starting off the game missing that many easy shots can mess with a team but last night they kept Arkansas within striking distance and eventually ran away from them.
The win keeps the Cats within a game of the top of the SEC and it avoided a Quad 2 loss. Big week upcoming but winning should never be taken for granted.
