Kentucky Wildcats vs. Kansas Jayhawks: 3 Bold Predictions
By Daniel Tran
1. Kansas’ Cliff Alexander will get more minutes…and do absolutely nothing with them.
Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self played his much-heralded freshman only 12 minutes in a sloppy win over UC Santa Barbara last Friday night. Boy, did he make the most out of it. Alexander finished the night with 9 points on 60% shooting from the field, 4 rebounds and a block. That equates to 30 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per 40 minutes. Coach Self will be hard pressed to keep that kind of production on the bench, but throwing Alexander in the almost literal fire that is the No. 1 team in the nation will not yield the kind of results he is hoping for.
Live Feed
Wildcat Blue Nation
The Kentucky Wildcats are generally a deep team, but their real depth lies at the forward/center positions. Waiting to meet Alexander in the low block are two 7-footers that are just itching send back whatever shot he may put up. After two games, both Dakari Johnson and shot-blocking extraordinaire Willie Cauley-Stein have sent back 5 shots each. And if that wasn’t enough, Kentucky also has 6’11 Karl-Anthony Towns and forward Alex Poythress who have a combined 5 blocks if Johnson and Cauley-Stein somehow find themselves out of the play.
The 6’8, 240 pound Alexander has been used to bullying others around at the high school level. He will be in for a rude awakening tonight against the bully that is the Wildcats frontline.
2. Speaking of highly touted freshman, Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns will still struggle to find his offensive game.
On the other side of the court, Karl-Anthony Towns has had trouble finding his identity in that deep frontcourt of Kentucky. In two games, Towns has averaged 5.5 points on 30.8% shooting and 4 fouls. Not exactly the kind of production head coach John Calipari was expecting from the gem of his 2014 recruiting class.
It’s not all that surprising either. Calipari has the more experienced Cauley-Stein, Johnson, and Poythress ahead of him taking more confident shots at the basket. In addition, he has fellow freshman, 6’10 Trey Lyles beasting in front of him to the tune of a team-leading 13 points a game. All that adds up to a lack of confidence and opportunities for Towns that will continue against a formidable Kansas team, as Calipari will look towards his experienced players to carry the load.
3. Kentucky will hold Kansas under 50 points.
Live Feed
Through the Phog
Yes, Kansas has experience over the younger Kentucky Wildcats team. Yes, Perry Ellis and Wayne Seldon have adjusted to the college game and can score on just about anyone. However, they will not score on this Kentucky team.
In their first game, the Wildcats held the Grand Canyon Antelopes (who finished 3rd in the WAC conference in scoring at 72 points a game last season) to 45 points. In the next game, Kentucky held the Buffalo Bulls (who finished 2nd in the MAC conference in scoring at 74 points a game last season) to 52 points. Obviously, it’s an insult to compare Kansas to those teams, but the point is Kentucky is playing defense this year.
Devonte’ Graham of Jayhawks as shown he can score, putting up 14 points against UC Santa Barbara, but he hasn’t seen the kind of size and athleticism that the Wildcats bring to the table. As soon as he drives the lane, he will encounter at least two frontcourt players over 6’10 and have to fight through Calipari’s suffocating half court defense that has held opponents to 33% shooting from the field.
Don’t expect the Wildcats to slow down as the game progresses either. Calipari has so much depth that he is employing a 2-lineup system that allows his players to maximize their effort for short spurts while the other line up rests. That means a constant stream of fresh Kentucky players foaming at the mouth to get a turnover and score on the other end of the court.