Kentucky Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Wildcats at Mississippi State

1. Tyler Herro vs. the Weatherspoons

Starkville Mississippi has been home to many legends of their sports, Cool Papa Bella and Jerry Rice, just to name a few. Currently though, the biggest name in Starkville is the SEC’s 3rd leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon. If the Bulldogs establish a résumé strong enough to get seeded in this year’s NCAA Tournament it will be primarily because of the senior from, Canton Mississippi, located one-hundred miles northeast of Starkville.

Fans not familiar with Weatherspoon should be sure not to confuse him with his brother, Sophomore, Nick, though it’d be hard to confuse Quindarry with anyone else on the court Saturday. Weatherspoon recently dropped 27 points in an overtime loss to LSU Wednesday. On the season the 6-4, 205 lb. guard is averaging nearly 18 points per game. This is achieved, in part, by his 55% field goal percentage and 85% free throw conversion rate.

Also throwing in 1.5 steals per game, 2.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds for good measure, Weatherspoon is one of the league’s most skilled and experienced guards. Needless to say, it’s going to take a special effort on defense to try and slow him. Playing off of the ball, that responsibility will likely fall to Kentucky’s Shooting Guards, namely standout Freshman, Tyler Herro.

Herro will have his hands full but the Wisconsinite know for his shooting above all else shouldn’t be counted out too quickly. Herro has shown improvement on the defensive end through conference play. Perhaps sparked by a resurgent confidence created from finally getting his three-point shot viable again, the young man has doubled down on improving other aspects of his game. Defense has notably been one of them.

There’s no question as to who the Wildcat’s best defender is, but Ashton Hagan’s will have his time occupied by the exceptional speed of Junior Lamar Peters in the primary guard spot. Tyler Herro will more or less be left on an island to try and contain the Dog’s biggest threat. In the two teams’ first matchup on the season, Weatherspoon led Mississippi State in scoring with 19 of their 55 points.

If the front-court of Mississippi State can muster even a little offense this time around, the Wildcats can ill afford to let the Dog’s dog loose. As a Senior and 4 year starter, Weatherspoon will certainly not be intimidated by the overwhelming talent of Kentucky and should be an issue all day for the visiting Wildcats, from both sides of the ball, on his home court.

Look for this to be the matchup of the day Saturday. How will Herro contain Weatherspoon, and what game plan will John Calipari have schemed to bottle up the prolific scorer?