Presence of Sahvir Wheeler powers Kentucky blowout win over Florida

During the dreadful 9-16 season in 2020-21, Kentucky basketball had a ton of weaknesses, but none were more glaring than the point guard position. John Calipari knew that had to get fixed in the offseason. The Hall of Fame head coach decided to go fishing in the transfer portal.

After a long pursuit, Kentucky landed Georgia transfer Sahvir Wheeler and has built their current team around the diminutive left-hander’s strengths. Those skills were on full display in Kentucky’s 78-57 beatdown over Florida.

Behind a pace-setting performance by the junior lead guard, Kentucky’s offense was locked in as the Wildcats improved to 10-2 in SEC play to stay in the regular-season championship hunt. KSR is now diving into the box score to pull out the numbers that told the story.

Sahvir Wheeler was the difference maker

To begin the game, Kentucky got off to a ferocious start. The Wildcats blitzed out to a 20-6 lead as the offense got in transition but was also able to push the pace off of defensive rebounds. Sahvir Wheeler was the catalyst for that run.

Then the point guard picked up his second foul with just under 15 minutes remaining until halftime. Florida took advantage and was able to slow the pace down to chip away at the lead.

Everything changed once Wheeler was back on the floor.

Kentucky outscored Florida by a count of 45-29 after halftime, and Wheeler’s presence was a big reason why. The Wildcats were plus-30 with the point guard on the floor. The nine points, six assists, and zero turnovers were good but just his presence changed the game.

Sahvir Wheeler is the tempo setter for Kentucky, and if you cannot slow him down your team could be in trouble on the defensive end.

Oscar Tshiebwe wins star matchup

Despite missing multiple games this season, Florida’s Colin Castleton remains one of the top bigs in the SEC. The Michigan transfer entered Saturday’s contest averaging 15.4 points and 8.9 rebounds serving as the top player for the Gators.

The senior had a nice game with 18 points on 12 field goal attempts and seven rebounds in 30 minutes, but Castleton was no match for Oscar Tshiebwe.

The John R. Wooden Award candidate went for 27 points and 19 rebounds in 38 minutes. That is just absurd efficiency from a college big in a ton of minutes. The West Virginia transfer gobbled up 10 offensive rebounds, and Florida’s team had 20 total defensive rebounds. Tshiebwe was active in passing lanes and again was just a total dynamo on the floor.

If the junior doesn’t win all of the Player of the Year awards something is truly wrong with the voting process.

Absurd offensive numbers

Even with Sahvir Wheeler constantly pushing, Florida lured Kentucky into a slow game. The Gators play at the slowest pace in the SEC and that pace was established at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats only had 57 offensive possessions in the game and Florida was able to score at a good clip on offense. The Gators averaged 1.02 points per possession, but it didn’t matter.

Kentucky was razor-sharp on offense.

The Wildcats ended the games with 1.37 points per possession and got contributions from everywhere. Oscar Tshiebwe led the party, but Kellan Grady scored 15 points with four three-point makes. Davion Mintz had 11 points with three makes from downtown. TyTy Washington was working with a 10-5-6 line before leaving the game with a leg injury. Outside of Keion Brooks Jr., every lineup regular had a strong scoring output.

At KenPom, Kentucky is currently No. 4 nationally in offensive efficiency, and if this team cuts down the nets in April the offensive firepower will be the main reason why.

Stats that stood out

• With the recent makes, Davion Mintz is now 26 of 59 (44.1%) from three in SEC play. Kellan Grady sits at 33 of 89 (37.1%). The Davidson super senior gets most of the attention, but the second-year Kentucky player has given the Wildcats two legitimate sharpshooters from the perimeter.
• Oscar Tshiebwe has now gone for 25-plus points four times this season. The junior big has recorded 10-plus offensive rebounds three times. The guy is just having an amazing season.
• After losing the rebounding battle for three games in a row, Kentucky reclaimed its dominance on the glass against Florida. The Wildcats were plus-16 on the boards (41-25) doing it on both ends of the floor. Tshiebwe was a menace, but Lance Ware contributed seven rebounds in 14 minutes. Kentucky got some big production from the reserve big as the team finished with a 47.4 percent offensive rebounding rate.
• Florida was one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers. The Gators only produced an 8.8 percent turnover rate against Kentucky as the Wildcats had just five turnovers. UK will be hard to beat when opponents can’t force takeaways.