A lack of assist opportunities cost Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt: 'We're right on the edge of being a great basketball team.'

Part of what makes Kentucky’s offense so efficient (currently fifth in the country, per KenPom) this season is ball movement and shooting. Those two things go hand-in-hand. Lumped in the middle is the actual passing from player to player — the result of technical ball movement and a precursor to shooting.

At nearly every position, Kentucky is an excellent passing group. 6-foot-2 point guard Lamont Butler leads the team in assists at 4.8 per game while 7-footer Amari Williams ranks second among rotation players at 2.6 per game. Everyone gets in on the action. As a team, the Wildcats are ninth in the nation in assists per game at 18.3. UK assists on just a hair under 59 percent of its overall shots, a Top 50 mark in the country per KenPom.

That’s carried over into conference play, as well. Through six league games, Kentucky is first in the SEC in assists per game at 17.3. The turnovers have ticked up a bit (9.1 per game in the non-conference, 11.7 per game in conference) but UK is still generating over 57 percent of its made shots via assists. That’s not necessarily the issue though.

According to fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson, it’s a bit deeper than that.

“I think our assist opportunities correlate pretty well with us winning and losing,” Robinson said Monday. “We always break down the numbers after the game the next day, I feel like when we don’t have probably 40 assist opportunities, that’s usually equivalent to a loss for us, is what I’ve started to realize. Rebounding and then defensively, I think we did a way better job this past game about the things that we wanted to correct, but we lacked in turnovers. Can’t give the team 17 extra possessions and hope to win the basketball game.”

Kentucky’s playmaking was at its worst over the weekend in Nashville as the Wildcats came up short 74-69 against Vanderbilt. UK recorded just 11 assists, tied for third-fewest of the season. That was compounded by a season-high 17 turnovers, 10 coming in the first half alone and four in the final four minutes of regulation. Robinson says Kentucky created just 35 assist opportunities (instances when they can score directly off a pass) against the Commodores — below the mark they strive to reach each game.

“I think 35 (assist opportunities) is probably the lowest that we want to go,” Robinson added. “40, I feel like every time (Mark Pope) says 40, we win the basketball game.”

As the competition increases, so does the inability to comfortably pass the ball around. In 13 non-conference games, Kentucky registered double-digit turnovers in six of them. The ‘Cats have four already in six SEC games, posting a 2-2 record when they go over that mark. Cutting down on the miscues, which should in turn give UK more chances to score, will be necessary moving forward.

“We just got to cut down on turnovers,” Robinson added. “If we cut down the turnovers we probably come out with the win at Vandy… We’re right on the edge of being a great basketball team. Hopefully the rest of BBN is patient and knows that we’re trying.”

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