NCAA Basketball: Kentucky rides their defense to take down Sparty

With Big Blue Nation behind them at Madison Square Garden, Kentucky crushed Michigan State in NCAA basketball’s premiere early season event.

A month ago, Kentucky head coach John Calipari raved about his team’s potential on the defensive end of the floor. Calipari said he would be “disappointed” if this wasn’t the best defensive team he’s ever had at Kentucky by February.

While the Wildcats surely haven’t reached their max potential, no one could discount the strength of UK’s team on Tuesday night.

The 2nd ranked Wildcats showed off their elite defense in a victory over 13th ranked Michigan State, 69-48, in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats held the Spartans to 32 percent shooting, forced 20 turnovers and limited Michigan State to just five threes (19 percent).

“I do think that is one of (John Calipari’s) best defensive teams,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said following the Spartans loss. “They did a very good job.”

They held the Spartans to 26 points in the first half, and limited Miles Bridges and Eron Harris (Michigan State’s top two offensive talents) to just eight combined points on 3-of-14 shooting.

But the numbers didn’t do justice, as Kentucky’s defense definitely passed the eye test against a top-15 opponent.

Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox are the anchors of the Wildcats’ unit, but Briscoe, in particular, was special on Tuesday. While he was his usual lock-down self on the perimeter, Briscoe also spent time guarding the uber-athletic and 6’7″ Bridges.

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How many 6’3″ combo guards can match-up with a small ball four as successfully as Briscoe did? There’s certainly not many in college basketball, which makes it easy to say that he’s one of the top overall defenders in the nation regardless of position.

Freshman Wenyen Gabriel doesn’t have much of a role offensively at this point, but his ability to guard multiple different positions is valuable off the bench. He’s long, active and slides his feet well laterally. Like Briscoe, Gabriel also spent stretches of Tuesday night’s game guarding Bridges, limiting the freshman to perimeter jumpers and challenged shots at the rim.

It goes beyond the individual defenders though. Kentucky plays team defense. They don’t allow consistent penetration, they challenge shots on the perimeter, they protect the rim and their continuity looks like it’s in mid-season form. Credit Calipari and the high basketball IQ of his young players, as the newcomers have integrated into the system rather quickly.

“We’ve gotten better,” Calipari said in regards to his team’s defense. “But we’re still not where we need to be. What happened is these guys took some pride defensively.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky’s offensive attack was led by Malik Monk, who scored 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Monk has a reputation as a “gunner” and a player who struggles with his shot selection. However, on Tuesday, Monk made plays within the confines of the offense and was red hot from downtown.

Isaiah Briscoe added 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while De’Aaron Fox put up 12 points, including a highlight reel one-handed flush in transition.

While Kentucky improved to 3-0 on this young season, Michigan State is now 0-2. It shouldn’t be panic time for Spartan fans just yet (they played two really solid teams and programs to open the year), but there obviously is some level of concern.

The Spartans have major offensive issues that start with their lack of shot creativity, inability to space the floor and lack of consistency at the point guard position.

Michigan State desperately needs someone to take a step forward.

Harris was supposed to be that player in 2016-17, but he was non-existent on Tuesday night and has not adjusted well since joining the Spartans.

Bridges is a terrific talent, but he’s young and should not be the centerpiece of an offensive attack at this point in his career. That was especially evident against Kentucky, as he turned the ball over nine times and was highly inefficient with just two made field goals.

And it doesn’t make things any easier when the spacing is lacking due to Lourawl ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn’s inability to hit a jumper. Kentucky’s defenders sagged off Nairn all night long, making it much more difficult for the wing players to take their man off the dribble.

There are problems that Izzo will have to deal with, but with the Hall of Fame coach roaming the sidelines, the Spartans cannot be truly judged until March rolls around. The Spartans scheduled a grueling non-conference schedule, so they will be battle-tested.

Next: Can Kansas avoid an 0-2 start?

Kentucky is far ahead of Michigan State at this point in the season and very well could be the best team in the country with all of Duke’s injuries. However, things change quickly in college basketball. Calipari must keep his team motivated, while Izzo will find his ways to help the Spartans bounce back.

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NCAA Basketball: Kentucky rides their defense in win over Sparty

By Carmine Carcieri | Nov 15, 2016

With Big Blue Nation behind them at Madison Square Garden, Kentucky crushed Michigan State in NCAA basketball’s premiere early season event.