KSR's five New Year's resolutions for Kentucky entering 2025

New Year’s Day means New Year’s resolutions for just about everyone in the world. The Kentucky Wildcats already shared theirs, specifically outside of basketball and ranging from learning to cook to reading the Bible to saving money. There were some other on-court resolutions, too, with Amari Williams “being ready for the physicality” that comes with SEC play and Andrew Carr wanting the team “to play 110 percent all the time.”

That team, Carr says, is “a really tough team to beat.”

What else does the team need to work on, though, as we move past 2024 and embrace what’s to come in 2025? KSR put together five New Year’s resolutions for the Cats beginning January 1.

Live in the 10-plus 3-pointers per game range

The Wildcats are currently averaging 9.8 made 3-pointers per game entering SEC play, good for No. 40 nationally. That comes after hitting the double-figure mark in the team’s first five outings, followed by a four-game skid with no more than eight makes. From there, it’s been 10-plus in three of the last four with Kentucky’s 4-22 finish vs. Ohio State in New York City being the clear outlier both now and the entire season.

Mark Pope is frustrated with the volume and has been for a couple of weeks now — the team has only taken 30-plus attempts in three games with only two 35-attempt efforts — but it’s no coincidence the Wildcats’ two worst shooting days (25.9 percent at Clemson, 18.2 percent vs. OSU) came in their two losses.

The difference between No. 1 and No. 40 nationally is 3.4 makes per game. One additional 3-pointer on average would put Kentucky in the top-15 overall and No. 1 in the SEC. As rough as the shooting got after Thanksgiving, they’re not far off from the elite status they’re looking for. If that takes the volume overhaul Pope is looking for or simply hitting the clean looks they’re getting now — that 11-21 finish vs. Louisville was pretty darn fun, if you ask me — the 10-plus-make mark is the comfort zone in the SEC.

Force more turnovers to get out and run

Kentucky forced Brown into 23 turnovers, leading to 33 points the other direction. It was the team’s best defensive performance of the year, holding the Bears to just 54 points on 40.8 percent shooting — exactly what the doctor ordered after the letdown effort against OSU.

“I was proud of us ringing the bell defensively,” Mark Pope said. “Minus some letdowns on the glass, I thought the guys were stellar. Season-high in deflections, which is really important to us.”

It was also a step in the right direction for a team that ranks among the worst in college basketball in forced turnovers at No. 295 overall (11.08 per game). The Wildcats opened the year forcing at least 11 turnovers in five of the team’s first seven games, then failed to force more than eight in any of the next five contests — two being losses.

It doesn’t have to be 23 every game, but that December stretch simply wasn’t good enough ahead of NYE.

Stop digging early holes

The Wildcats’ brightest moments in the non-conference came as a result of miraculous comebacks, turning halftime deficits of nine and 16 points vs. Duke and Gonzaga, respectively, into season-altering wins down the stretch. That approach got them burned, however, at Clemson and vs. Ohio State, trailing by nine at the break before losing in both — including a blowout in the latter. Factor in the 17-0 start that transitioned into a two-point halftime lead vs. Colgate, this team has been hellbent on living and dying in the second half of these games.

It’s great to have a coach capable of making late adjustments and outscheming the competition, but that only works with a perfect storm of hitting shots and coming up with stops, too. Neither of those things happened against the Buckeyes, just as they won’t be guarantees in the toughest conference in college basketball — maybe ever. Playing a full 40 minutes every night in the SEC will be mandatory.

Keep building upon recent success at the line

The positive takeaways from New York City were few and far between. If there was one to build upon, though, it was the 27-32 finish at the free throw line, good for 84.4 percent. Kentucky then followed that with an 18-23 display at the charity stripe for a 78.3 percent hit rate.

The Wildcats enter SEC play ranked No. 105 nationally at the line, hitting 74.1 percent on the year. They’ve come up short of that mark seven times out of 13 total games, those high-efficiency, high-volume games doing a lot of the team’s heavy lifting in that area compared to the big-picture season sample size.

Finding consistency with the sheer number of attempts wouldn’t hurt, either. Kentucky has taken as many as 42 free throws in a game and as few as 10 — those matchups actually coming back-to-back, interestingly enough. The Wildcats took 13 attempts vs. Colgate, then followed it up with outings of 28, 32 and 23 free throws over the next three games.

The volume obviously goes hand-in-hand with how the game is being played — more 3-point attempts means fewer drives and foul opportunities at the rim — but efficiency can always improve. To Kentucky’s credit, it has going into the league schedule.

Balance those rebounding numbers

Kentucky is currently ranked No. 3 in the country in defensive rebounding with 30.7 boards per contest. On the flip side, the Cats are just No. 133 overall in offensive rebounding with 11.6 per game — No. 9 in total average (42.3 RPG), No. 62 in margin (+6.2). We’ve seen them dominate on the glass at times and we’ve seen… whatever the 28- and 27-rebound efforts were against the Buckeyes and Bears the past couple of games, respectively.

We saw Pope challenge Kentucky to open the season, saying it was a space where the team was “really gonna have to grow if we’re gonna accomplish what everybody wants us to accomplish this year.” That led to a 20-board effort on the offensive glass a game later — the best of the season. They’ve had six total games with double-figure offensive rebounds, but seven coming short of that mark. Their five worst outings in terms of total rebounding percentage, in chronological order? Duke (45.5%), Clemson (45.5%), Gonzaga (50.6%), Ohio State (49.1%) and Brown (47.4%).

Pope called the rebounding effort against the Bears a “letdown,” especially considering how undersized the Ivy League competition was inside Rupp Arena. That’s sure to be a point of emphasis with SEC play set to begin this weekend.