How Kentucky Can Fix Their Road Woes

Make it 1-9 dating back to last February. Except for the lone win against Providence this team has struggled to perform outside the confines of Rupp Arena which could be expected from such a young team.  The Dean Dome was rowdy from the opening tip as the white clad crowd provided a major boost for the home team. If this one was played at home or a neutral site you have to think the cats win with ease but it wasn't and the Cats will need to find answers fast as several hostile SEC arenas loom on the horizon. Meanwhile up north, another young team took to the road yesterday to play in a game as the underdog. That team was #1 Arizona who faced a 9 point deficit at the half before clawing back to win the game. It was a tale of two Wildcats and a group our Cats can look to in order to right the ship as we head towards a new year. 1. Make Free Throws The Cats were an abysmal 29-43 from the charity stripe which once again can be pointed to as a reason for this loss. If you make free throws against Michigan State, Baylor, and UNC you win. Clearly there is no magic wand to fix this problem but when your offense consists of your point guard driving down the lane you can't have that player go 10-17 which is what Andrew Harrison did. On the other hand you have the Arizona Wildcats who went 14-15 from the line, including 6 in the final 30 seconds, to seal the game. That kind of consistency is what will win game in March and April. Something the Cats will drastically need to improve over the next couple of weeks. 2. Limit Turnovers How was Arizona able to fight back against the hostile crowd in Ann Arbor? One big reason was winning the turnover battle. Arizona finished +4 while the Wolerines were -2. Unfortunately yesterday Kentucky finished more like Michigan in the turnover battle by ending the game with a margin of -7. For the Cats passing has been an issue all year and it was never more obvious than yesterday's game. Everytime they cut the lead it seemed they would make a weak entry pass which would lead to an easy score for the Tarheels on the other side. With school out and Cal able to practice with fewer limitations I expect the team will focus on two major areas. Passing and defense. If they fix that perhaps they can start playing like the team we expected in November.   The Cats have begun a very troubling trend and will need to become road warriors if they are going to work their way back up to a 1-seed. In January they will travel to Arkansas, who is nearly unbeatable at home, and to LSU who has the athleticism to play with UK. A young team needs to grow up fast. Do you think the Cats will be able to win big games on the road in 2014?