Why Ansley Almonor could be a huge X-Factor for Kentucky against Tennessee

Ansley Almonor loved playing the Tennessee Volunteers during the regular season. If he keeps it up in the postseason, Kentucky might just keep on dancing to the Elite 8.

Almonor finished with 12 points, three assists, and two rebounds on 4-7 shooting from deep in the Wildcats’ first win on the road in Knoxville back on Jan. 28. Two weeks later in Rupp Arena, the senior forward poured in 13 more points on 4-5 shooting, including a 2-3 clip from long range. Of his six outings with at least a dozen points this season, two came against the Volunteers. Almonor started both games for the ‘Cats in place of the injured Andrew Carr.

For those keeping track at home, Almonor combined for 25 points on 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc in those two wins over the Vols. He saw 30 minutes of action in game one before playing 22 minutes in game two. But here’s the thing: his playing time will likely be cut in half (or even more severely) for round three. That being said, Almonor can change the momentum of a game completely.

Carr saw less than 60 seconds of clock in the first matchup against Tennessee. At the time, he was still trying to overcome his nagging back spasms, which turned him into a shell of his usual self. In only two possessions, he turned the ball over on offense before getting dunked on the next time down on defense. Mark Pope pulled Carr and didn’t play him the rest of the way.

It was a slightly better effort in game two from Carr, who went out there for 19 minutes but finished with just two points and two rebounds on 0-3 shooting during that time. A week or so after the win Lexington, Carr began to hit his stride in his recovery. Over his last 11 games back in the starting lineup, the 6-foot-11 big man is averaging 11.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per outing on 55.7 percent overall shooting.

So we can expect Carr to soak up a chunk of the minutes that Almonor was being fed in the first two meetings with Tennessee. Carr should provide more rebounding inside, an area the Vols were able to best Kentucky at in the regular season, and defensive pushback in the paint. That, mixed with his ability to score from multiple areas of the floor, will make him a tough matchup for Tennessee’s Igor Milicic.

But Almonor has proven he can be an offensive mismatch against Milicic. He’s proven he can step up and make an impact against the Vols when faced with a slower defender. Since going for a season-high 15 points against LSU in the regular season home finale, Almonor has failed to score more than five points in any of the previous five games. He scored four points in nine minutes during the SEC Tournament against Oklahoma and five points in eight minutes against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament, but he’s capable of much more.

Kentucky doesn’t need Almonor to knock in a couple of threes against Tennessee this Friday in order to lock up the win, but if he does, the Wildcats will be in good shape. UK is 7-3 this season when Almonor makes at least two triples and 16-5 when he makes at least one.