Big Blue Preview: Kentucky at Alabama
No. 17 Kentucky has won three of its past four games, partially due to an improvement on the defensive end of the floor. The Cats have made adjustments and improvements recently and the results are showing on the court.
UK head coach Mark Pope has seen his team improve lately despite currently missing two of its best defenders, Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson.
“Over the last five games, I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” Pope said. “After Ole Miss, we were sitting there at 112th defensive team in the country and we’ve jumped to 68. That’s a massive jump and it’s been a real commitment by our guys over the last five games. Over the last five games, we’ve had the 13th-best defense in the country. That’s not somewhere we have lived most of the season.”
Pope knows the reasons for the Cats’ improvement at the defensive end.
“That comes from a few things,” Pope said. “One is guys really dialing in to a more cohesvive kind of team-oriented functioning defense. More importantly, it’s guys taking it really, really personally. It’s been a lot of things. It’s been us being more effective on the defensive glass, us guarding without fouling, us protecting the box. It’s been step-by-step as we’ve gone through the last several weeks and we’re really proud of the progress.”
Pope knows that, if Kentucky is to make any type of postseason run, playing good defense is imperative.
“It’s incredibly important,” he said. “We need to keep growing and improving if we’re going to be the team that we’d like to be as we go into the postseason.”
The newly-improved UK defense will be put to a serious test on Saturday as the Cats visit No. 4 Alabama at Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide lead the nation in scoring, averaging 90.6 points per game. In the first contest between the two teams, Alabama scored 102 points, beating the Cats in Rupp Arena. Pope knows how good the Tide are offensively.
“Alabama is a whole new situation,” he said. “They are one of, if not the most explosive offensive team in the country. They challenge you in so many different ways. Alabama poses the biggest challenge defensively that we will probably face this season.”
Kentucky’s defense is much improved lately, but the Cats will get a really big test on Saturday against the high-scoring Crimson Tide.
Wildcats Earn Big Win over Vanderbilt
Otega Oweh scored 20 points as No. 17 Kentucky rolled past Vanderbilt 82-61 on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
For Oweh, it was the 26th consecutive game in which he has scored in double figures, and it was the eighth time that he has scored at least 20 points.
Kentucky (18-8, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) got 17 points and six rebounds from Amari Williams. Koby Brea had 12 and Andrew Carr added 11.
Brea got the scoring started with a 3, giving the Cats an early lead. A Carr layup made it 5-0 before Vandy scored five in a row to tie the game.
Kentucky got off to a hot start in the second half, scoring the first six points on baskets by Carr, Williams and Oweh. In the process, UK extended the lead to 47-40.
Vandy scored to cut the UK lead to 10 before Brea hit his third 3-pointer of the night, giving UK a 59-46 advantage. After the ‘Dores scored three in a row, Oweh made a layup, then a 3 and the Cats led 64-49 with 8:42 to play. A Carr dunk extended the UK lead to 66-49.
Some additional notes from the game:
• Kentucky shot 58 percent from the field, 29 of 50, the highest mark this season against an SEC opponent
• It was Kentucky’s largest margin of victory against Vanderbilt at home since March 5, 2003 (62 points)
• Kentucky made all 13 free throw attempts, which tied for the fifth-most attempts in school history for a perfect night at the foul line.
-19 of 19 vs. Mississippi State, Feb. 8, 1983
-19 of 19 vs. Duke, March 3, 1930
-18 of 18 vs. Austin Peay, Dec. 19, 2009
-18 of 18 vs Utah, March 3, 2003
-13 of 13 at Ole Miss, Jan. 28, 1989
• Kentucky limited Vanderbilt to 20 percent on 3-point shooting, making 5 of 25
• UK opponents have made only 17 of 88 on long balls in the last four games (19.3 percent), with the Wildcats winning three of those four
• UK is 12-1 this season when the opponent makes less than 25 percent
• With Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa out tonight, UK has played only seven games this season at full strength
Big Blue Carr Show
Not only does the team refer to Andrew Carr as the “team dad,” but Carr has provided his best performances in Kentucky’s biggest games, despite fending off a nagging back injury since the start of conference play.
• For the season Carr is averaging 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, while connecting on 53.2% of his field goals
• He has scored in double figures in 15 games
• Carr has a pair of double-doubles on the year
• Carr ranks 66th in overall offensive rating per KenPom
• After leading Kentucky with 17 points in a come-from-behind upset over No. 6 Duke, UK forward Andrew Carr was declared the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 18.
• Carr set season highs in both points (17) and rebounds (6), while also adding three assists and a blocked shot as Kentucky erased a nine-point halftime deficit to upend the Blue Devils, 77-72.
• The West Chester, Pa. native made a big impact down the stretch for the Wildcats, beginning with an “and one” with 3:57 to go which tied the game at 67 and pulled UK even for the first time since there was 8:23 on the clock in the first half. Carr then assisted on an Otega Oweh layup that gave the Cats a 69-67 lead, their first advantage since holding a 24-23 edge. After Duke reclaimed the lead 70-69, Carr converted another traditional 3-point play the old-fashioned way, hitting a layup plus a foul shot to put Kentucky in front 72-70.
• Carr’s 17 points came on an efficient 5-of-8 performance from the field and included two made 3s on just three attempts.
