Ed Cooley compares Kentucky's size and length to Big East foe UConn

Kentucky is going to have a clear size advantage against Providence when the two teams meet in the NCAA Tournament’s first round on Friday night.

The tallest rotational piece for the Friars is 6-foot-8 senior forward Ed Croswell, who is second on the team in rebounds per game at 7.6. Former Wildcat Bryce Hopkins is right behind him at 6-foot-6, leading his group in rebounds at 8.5 per outing. The rest of the starting five is made up of guards standing 6-foot-3 or smaller. Three of Providence’s four bench players are 6-foot-4 or shorter, too. The only one taller is 6-foot-10 freshman Clifton Moore, who averaged just 11.1 minutes per game during Big East games this season. Head coach Ed Cooley also has 6-foot-10 freshman Rafael Castro at his disposal, but Castro plays under four minutes per contest.

All this is to say there’s limited size on the Providence sideline.

Kentucky, on the other hand, will feature two 6-foot-9 frontcourt pieces in Oscar Tshiebwe, arguably the best rebounder in college basketball over the last 25 years, and Jacob Toppin, who hauled in 7.1 boards per game during SEC play. 6-foot-6, 220-pound freshman Chris Livingston fills in at forward.

Head coach John Calipari can roll out two more 6-foot-9 forwards in Lance Ware and Daimion Collins, or even try out 6-foot-11 freshman Ugonna Onyenso, who hasn’t played much this season but is an undeniably talented shot blocker. Even 6-foot-6 freshman Adou Thiero knows how to use his length and athleticism as a strength. 6-foot-4 freshman Cason Wallace acts as a brick wall in the backcourt.

Again, the size advantage is clearly in Kentucky’s favor. Tshiebwe, in particular, plays more like he’s 7-foot-1 as opposed to 6-foot-9 when a rebound is up for grabs. The Wildcats rank second in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, per KenPom. Not counting bench player Brennan Canada, Calipari rosters seven players that are at least 6-foot-6. Providence has just five, and that includes two freshmen that rarely play.

Kentucky will have the length to give Providence issues, but it won’t be anything the Friars haven’t already seen this season.

“I think we have to be much better defensively. Obviously, they’re one of the better offensive-rebounding teams in the country,” Cooley said this week about Kentucky. “Having played Connecticut, who is right up there with the best in the country, it’ll be a similar match. Tshiebwe is one of the leading rebounders, he’s just got a knack for it. They’re athleticism, they’re length. And then I think we need to run great offense. They have length at every position so we’ll need to be efficient offensively.”

Providence went 1-2 against UConn, which earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, this season. The Friars won the first matchup on Jan. 4 at home, 73-61, but dropped the next two, the first being an 87-69 road loss on Feb. 22 and the next in the Big East Conference Tournament, 73-66. The Huskies have two talented bigs lurking down low — 6-foot-9 junior Adama Sanogo and 7-foot-2 freshman Donovan Clingan — that hurt Providence in various ways throughout the three matchups.

“(Kentucky has) got some UConn similarities because of their size and physicality,” Cooley added. “Very very physical team. We’re gonna have to match their physicality and their athleticism.”

Sanogo, who was tabbed to the All-Big East First Team, is one of the better rebounders in the entire conference. Clingan might even be better in that regard, although he’s still inexperienced and plays about half the minutes of Sanogo.

UConn is actually the one team in the country better at offensive rebounding than Kentucky. In terms of size and length, the Huskies and Wildcats aren’t all that different, which means Providence has plenty of experience dealing with so much height. That isn’t to say the Friars will slow down Tshiebwe and company on the glass, but they’ll at least have an idea of how to make it happen.

“Tshiebwe sticks out. Their length and athleticism,” Cooley said. “Toppin, we played against him when he was at Rhode Island. He’s gotten a lot, lot better. (CJ) Fredrick can really shoot the ball. They really do a great job rebounding the ball. We got our hands full, but so do they.”