How Kentucky can beat Kansas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge headliner
By Bryan Mauro
All Hands on Deck
Kansas comes into this game. losers of three straight games. Kentucky comes into this game, winners of four straight. There is so much to play for both teams as Kansas has played its way off the one-seed line and does not want to lose 4 in a row. Kentucky has played its way back onto the right side of the bubble and could use a win like this to secure its spot in the NCAA tournament. Kansas is so good and so hard to prepare for because every player on their team understands their roles and excels in them. It also doesn’t hurt that Kansas has elite talent at every position on the floor as well.
Don’t sell Kentucky short, they also have premium talent at every position but there have been times in the last few seasons under coach Calipari that it has taken some time for those players to understand their roles and every once in a while they don’t perform well or show up to play. That can be said for about 350 of the 363 division 1 teams but if you want to beat a team as disciplined as Kansas everyone has to be ready to play and play their best.
It should not be hard to be motivated for this game. It’s at home in a sold-out arena. It’s a “win and you’re in” situation for Kentucky. Everyone is going to need to contribute as it will take a whole team effort to come out with the win tonight but it can be done. Kentucky does have talent everywhere but the biggest question marks for them come from their bench scoring outside of Antonio Reeves. Can Cj Fredrick get creative to get himself open? Can Lance Ware give quality minutes to spell Tshibwe? Will Antonio Reeves be able to move freely on the offensive end and provide his normal output of scoring?
These all seem like sure things but when Kentucky was having problems winning games these were all things that were problems. Against a team like Kansas who takes away so much on the defensive end, it will be imperative that Kentucky does everything it can to make life hard for Kansas, and that is to keep the pressure on no matter who is on the floor.