This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Finals Week + UCLA at MSG

We are officially over a month into the college basketball season. The beginning of conference play is still a couple of weeks away, but the teeth of the schedule is drawing near. This week, Kentucky Men’s Basketball will take a couple of days off as they navigate final exams before heading to New York on Thursday for Saturday’s game against UCLA at Madison Square Garden. Some additional rest is still welcomed after traveling abroad to London. The Wildcats will need to operate at full strength against a very talented Bruins squad.

Kentucky got off to a hot start and appeared to be on their way to a route against Yale. However, the Bulldogs fought back and actually took a 35-33 lead early in the second half. Similar to the Bellarmine game, the ‘Cats allowed the lesser opponent to dictate the tempo. The game was played at just 60 possessions which certainly favored Yale’s style of play. Also, it makes it hard to ever pull away when there simply aren’t that many scoring opportunities. The silver lining is that 1.15 points per possession indicate a pretty efficient offense. There continue to be issues to work out with the Wildcats’ halfcourt offense, but there are flashes of greatness. It is time for those flashes to become more prevalent though.

As we do each Monday, it is time to take a look at what lies ahead for the Kentucky Basketball program. We will highlight the top storyline surrounding the team this week, preview the UCLA Bruins, take a scan of the SEC, and feature the top upcoming games to watch nationally. Let’s dive on into another edition of This Week in Kentucky Basketball.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: Preparing for a Marquee Matchup

As many Kentucky Basketball fans could tell you, the Wildcats have not fared well against the best opponents in recent years. After the loss to Gonzaga, Corey Price shared an eye-opening stat on Twitter. Since the start of the 2015-2016 season, Kentucky is 16-25 in road/neutral site games against Top 25 opponents. That is ugly, embarrassing, and unacceptable for a blue blood program. However, the ‘Cats have another opportunity coming up this Saturday at Madison Square Garden against UCLA.

For many members of Big Blue Nation, games like Saturday are the only ones that matter on the schedule. The lack of recent postseason success has taken some of the joy away from beating the likes of Howard and North Florida. A lot of fans won’t even acknowledge wins over NCAA Tournament teams like Michigan and Yale. That is generally misguided, but that 16-25 stat looms large in the minds of many. They want — and expect — Kentucky to beat the best of the best.

Those expectations, mixed with the ugly statistic, make Saturday’s game all that more meaningful. In many ways, it feels like a potential turning point for the season. A win gets the proverbial monkey off of Kentucky’s back as Southeastern Conference play nears. If they lose, the Wildcats will have to wait until a January 7th trip to Tuscaloosa before they get another crack at a Top 25 opponent. No December non-conference game should ever be labeled as a must-win, but for a portion of Kentucky Basketball fans, that is what Saturday’s matchup will be.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: UCLA Bruins

In many ways, UCLA’s season has mirrored Kentucky’s to this point. Both have consistently blown out the weakest teams on their schedule, lost their two games against Top 25 competition, and then beaten a couple of solid opponents. The Bruins are 8-2 on the season, including 2-0 in Pac-12 play with wins over Stanford and Oregon. Head coach Mick Cronin took UCLA to Las Vegas before Thanksgiving and went 0-2 in close games against Illinois (79-70) and Baylor (80-75). In terms of a common opponent, the Bruins defeated Bellarmine 81-60. They will also play another strong opponent this week on Wednesday when they travel to Maryland. That additional film could lend an advantage to the Wildcats leading up to Saturday’s contest.

Under Coach Cronin, UCLA has steadily become one of the best offensive teams in college basketball. The Bruins have steadily increased from 51st to 11th, 12th, and now 7th (per KenPom) in his four seasons in Los Angeles. Typically playing at one of the slowest paces in the country, they have opened up the offense more this season and are playing faster. It still isn’t up-tempo, but they will look to run much more than in years past.

UCLA features All-American candidate Jaime Jaquez, who is a matchup nightmare at the forward position. Jaylen Clark has been excellent this season as well having vastly improved as a three-point shooting threat. Dynamic point guard Tyger Campbell continues to hold the keys to the car in the Bruins’ backcourt as well. However, it has been freshmen Amari Bailey and Adem Bona who have raised the level of what this team can be. The Bruins don’t feature much depth, but you can put their top six or seven guys up against any roster in the country.

Around the Southeastern Conference

And then there was one. Mississippi State is now the lone undefeated SEC team as the Bulldogs moved to 9-0 with Sunday’s win at Minnesota. Head coach Chris Jans’ group continues to absolutely dominate on the defensive end of the floor. They have still yet to allow more than 55 points in a game this season. The competition level hasn’t been outstanding, but they’ve done enough to earn some legitimate respect. Two low-major matchups followed by a neutral site game against Drake are all that stands between Mississippi State and a 12-0 record when they host Alabama to begin SEC play.

Formerly undefeated Missouri crashed and burned over the weekend in their big matchup with rival Kansas. Head coach Dennis Gates had his team at 9-0 to host the Jayhawks but gone blown out 95-67. It appears that the Tigers’ record was in fact as much of a function of their schedule as anything else. Auburn’s undefeated season came to an end as well falling to Memphis 82-73 in Atlanta. The Tigers’ inability to shoot will be a real Achilles heel against the best teams they play.

In other news, Tennessee picked up a hard-fought win over Maryland on a neutral floor on Sunday afternoon. The Volunteers are now the number one rated defense in the country according to KenPom. That will be put to the test on Saturday when they travel to play at Arizona. Arkansas notched an 88-78 win over Oklahoma to improve to 9-1 on the season. Despite losing Trevon Brazile for the season, the Razorbacks’ offense was clicking on all cylinders on Saturday.

The most impressive win of the week goes to Alabama who went down to Houston on Saturday and defeated the Cougars 71-65. Freshman big man Noah Clowney stepped up with 16 points and 11 rebounds to knock off the #1 team in the country. LSU continues to impress as well under head coach Matt McMahon with a plethora of transfers. The Tigers knocked off Wake Forest 72-70 to move to 8-1 on the season. KJ Williams, who followed his coach from Murray State, is having no issue transitioning to high-major basketball. He had 35 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday.

Games to Watch Nationally

Monday, December 12th

#7 Texas vs. Rice @ 8:00 p.m. EST (Longhorn Network)

#15 Gonzaga vs. Northern Illinois @ 9:00 p.m. EST

Tuesday, December 13th

#5 Houston vs. North Carolina A&T @ 8:00 p.m. EST (ESPN+)

#9 Arizona vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi @ 8:30 p.m. EST

#4 Alabama vs. Memphis @ 9:00 p.m. EST (ESPN2)

Wednesday, December 14th

#17 Mississippi State vs. Jackson State @ 7:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+)

#19 Auburn vs. Georgia State @ 8:00 p.m. EST (ESPN+)

#20 Maryland vs. #16 UCLA @ 9:00 p.m. EST (FS1)

Saturday, December 17th

#13 Kentucky vs. #16 UCLA @ 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS) at Madison Square Garden

#8 Kansas vs. #14 Indiana @ Noon Eastern Time (ESPN2)

#15 Gonzaga vs. #4 Alabama @ 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS) in Birmingham

#2 Virginia vs. #5 Houston @ 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2)

#17 Mississippi State vs. Nicholls @ 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (SEC Network)

#23 Ohio State vs. North Carolina @ 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS)

#10 Arkansas vs. Bradley @ 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time

#18 Illinois vs. Alabama A&M @ 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Big Ten Network)

#1 Purdue vs. Davidson @ 6:15 p.m. Eastern Time (Big Ten Network) in Indianapolis

Butler vs. #3 UConn @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (FS1)

#9 Arizona vs. #6 Tennessee @ 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2)

Sunday, December 18th

#7 Texas vs. Standford @ 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) in Dallas

USC vs. #19 Auburn @ 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN)

#21 TCU vs. Mississippi Valley State @ 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)

#11 Baylor vs. Washington State @ 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) in Dallas