This Week in Kentucky Basketball: First SEC Road Trip

Welcome to the grind of the conference season. From here on out your Kentucky Basketball team will play every Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Two league games a week is never easy, but generally players and coaches do like being able to settle into the routine of the traditional schedule. Even though the bottom of the SEC appears to be pretty bad, there are no easy victories when it comes to conference play.

The Wildcats get thrown right to the fire this week with a trip to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to take on 12-1 LSU. Then, on Saturday, Kentucky will welcome Coach Tom Crean and the Georgia Bulldogs to Rupp Arena. We will talk more about those games shortly.

This week in Kentucky Basketball will get you ready for everything surrounding the ‘Cats, the SEC, and the college basketball scene nationally. First, we will take a look at the biggest storyline surrounding the Kentucky Basketball team this week. Then, we will quickly preview both LSU and Georgia. Finally, we will provide a look around the SEC as a whole and preview the top games to watch nationally. Let’s dive on in.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: How Sustainable is the Recent Success?

Since losing at Notre Dame, the Kentucky Wildcats have looked like a totally different team. After scoring just 62 points in South Bend, the ‘Cats have averaged 92 points per game during their four game winning streak. The offense is really finding its rhythm while the defense continues to shape into an elite unit. So, can Kentucky keep it up heading into a full slate of conference games?

The primary reason why it seems sustainable on the surface is that this run didn’t take place against the worst teams on the Wildcats’ schedule. Aside from Ohio, each of the last four opponents rank higher per KenPom than any from the infamous seven game home stretch. Now it admittedly hasn’t been against the likes of Alabama, Auburn, or Tennessee that we will be facing soon. However, it has still be a semi-significant step up in competition.

Sustainability also seems more likely because of how Kentucky is finding success. While it is unlikely that Kellan Grady shoots 50% from three-point range all season, the ‘Cats are simply accentuating strengths during this four game run. All four games rank in the top five this season in terms of pace. Playing faster means more transition basketball which is where this team excels. Defensively, Kentucky is forcing more live ball turnovers which also creates more transition opportunities.

It won’t take long to find out whether this Kentucky Basketball team has truly put it together or if the last two weeks were just a fluke. With a depth of scoring options, elite defensive play, and Oscar Tshiebwe becoming a legitimate National Player of the Year contender, it seems more likely than not that the Wildcats are here to stay.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: LSU Tigers & Georgia Bulldogs

LSU really turned some heads in the non-conference going a perfect 12-0 and shooting up to #16 in the polls. However, a 70-55 loss at Auburn to begin SEC play has everyone coming back down to Earth a bit in Baton Rouge. This is still a very good basketball team that will compete towards the top of the conference standings all season long.

After several seasons of pretty poor defensive teams, Coach Will Wade has the best defense in the country this season per Kenpom. The Tigers are forcing turnovers at a high rate, protecting the rim at an elite level, and getting teams to shoot just 26.2% from beyond the arc. That is a nearly perfect winning formula when you add all three of those stats together.

Heading into this season, everyone expected senior forward Darius Days to be an All-SEC level player. However, it has been another front court player that has dominated for LSU. 6’8″ sophomore Tari Eason, a Cincinnati transfer, is averaging 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for the Tigers. His development, seemingly out of nowhere, gives LSU one of the best front courts around.

Moving on to Georgia, well, things are going even worse than expected for Coach Tom Crean. The Bulldogs are 5-8 entering conference play after losing three out of their last four to George Mason, East Tennessee State, and Garner Webb. They simply are not very good. We will get to see them play Texas A&M on Tuesday before hosting the ‘Dawgs Saturday evening.

Around the Southeastern Conference

Here we are, folks. In the conference where it just means more, we will now settle in to two SEC games a week (save for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge) for the rest of the season. There is plenty of more coverage right here on Kentucky Sports Radio talking about the Southeastern Conference. Yesterday, I updated the new year SEC Power Rankings while Kassidy Stumbo brought her weekly conference roundup.

Looking ahead to this week, we get a marquee ESPN matchup at 7:00 on Tuesday with LSU hosting Kentucky. Over on the SEC Network, there is a double-header featuring South Carolina vs. Auburn and Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt. On Wednesday, the game to watch will be Alabama traveling to Florida.

Saturday marks our first full slate of league games with seven matchups featuring all 14 teams. We will quickly begin to learn a lot more about the contenders and pretenders as these contests take place this week. You will not want to miss all of the action.

Games to Watch Nationally

Monday, January 3rd

#23 Wisconsin @ #3 Purdue (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

Washington @ #8 Arizona (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Tuesday, January 4th

#9 Auburn @ South Carolina (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

Oklahoma @ #1 Baylor (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN2)

#16 Kentucky @ #21 LSU (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN)

#14 Texas @ Kansas State (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

#24 Seton Hall @ Butler (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Georgia Tech @ #2 Duke (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time ACC Network)

#6 Kansas @ Oklahoma State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Air Force @ #20 Colorado State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#16 Providence @ Marquette (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

Wednesday, January 5th

Nebraska @ #10 Michigan State (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

#12 Houston @ South Florida (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

Ole Miss @ #18 Tennessee (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

#15 Alabama @ Florida (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN2)

Creighton @ #19 Villanova (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

#25 Texas Tech @ #11 Iowa State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPNU)

Arizona State @ #5 UCLA (10:30 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

Thursday, January 6th

#13 Ohio State @ Indiana (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

San Francisco @ #4 Gonzaga (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Iowa @ #23 Wisconsin (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#7 USC @ California (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Friday, January 7th

#22 Xavier @ Butler (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

#20 Colorado State @ Boise State (10:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

Saturday, January 8th

#8 Arizona @ Arizona State (TBD)

St. John’s @ #16 Providence (TBD)

#19 Villanova @ DePaul (TBD)

#3 Purdue @ Penn State (Noon Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

Wichita State @ #12 Houston (Noon Eastern Time)

UConn @ #15 Seton Hall (Noon Eastern Time)

#14 Texas @ Oklahoma State (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#10 Michigan State @ Michigan (2:30 p.m. Eastern Time FOX)

#15 Alabama @ Missouri (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

#6 Kansas @ #25 Texas Tech (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN2)

#1 Baylor @ TCU (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

#11 Iowa State @ Oklahoma (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#18 Tennessee @ #21 LSU (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Georgia @ #18 Kentucky (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

Miami @ #2 Duke (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time ACC Network)

#5 UCLA @ California (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Florida @ #9 Auburn (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Pepperdine @ #4 Gonzaga (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#7 USC @ Stanford (10:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Sunday, January 9th

Northwestern @ #13 Ohio State (TBD)

#23 Wisconsin @ Maryland (TBD)