Kentucky Basketball: 3 takeaways from Wildcats dominating win over Robert Morris
3. A lack of trips to the FT line is a potentially worrisome trend for Kentucky
If there is one potential worry about Kentucky’s opening two games, it has been the Wildcats’ struggles to get to the charity stripe – particularly compared to last season. In 2020-21, the Wildcats attempted 20.4 freebies per game, which ranked 66th in the nation – and they ranked 61st in free throws made, knocking down 14.8 of those per night.
Obviously, the sample size is substantially larger right now – but the massive differential is there when comparing the first two games of each season. Last year, Kentucky had 14 attempts in its season opener against Morehead State, before making a whopping 33 trips to the charity stripe against Richmond – whereas this year, the Wildcats were just 6-7 against Duke and 8-12 in the win over Robert Morris.
Certainly, the mark against the Colonials is not necessarily that important, considering Kentucky did win by 40 – but, paired with the effort in the loss to Duke, this is not the most favorable trend. Oscar Tshiebwe leads all Wildcats in free-throw attempts thus far with seven, which is a bit low, considering Tshiebwe matched or surpassed that amount in 10 different games during his year-and-a-half at West Virginia.
It is not like the Wildcats have been struggling from the line, either – they are shooting a 121st-best 73.7%, which is slightly better than last season’s final mark of 72.9%. As the year progresses, however, this is an area that Kentucky will desperately need to improve upon – and they need to prove sooner rather than later that they have the ability to draw contact, get physical, and go to the line at will.
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Kentucky should have another opportunity to pick up another win on Tuesday, Nov. 16, against Mount St. Mary’s – but a Nov. 19th duel with a mid-major power in Ohio looms large. Past that, the Wildcats will most likely not face another challenge until mid-December, with a streak of games against Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Louisville, all in a row. Time will ultimately tell if Tshiebwe and Grady, in addition to the rest of the Wildcats, are able to keep up the momentum and positivity gained from the win over Robert Morris.