Watch the Tape: #8 Kentucky Defeats Western Kentucky 87-68

The BBN Invitational might not be the highest profile multi-team event of Feast Week, but the #8 Kentucky Wildcats won it nonetheless. After dominating Lipscomb 97-68 and Jackson State 108-59 the ‘Cats defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 87-68. Tuesday night’s contest wasn’t always pretty, but it was still a convincing win over a quality opponent. At some point the honeymoon phase will end and there will be some real adversity in Lexington. It is good for the Wildcats, and Big Blue Nation as a whole, to experience a couple of valleys in between the peaks as they did on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky shot a season low 40.3% from the field and failed to reach double-digit three-pointers made. The 8-29 performance from deep dropped the season average just a tick below 40% at 39.9%. However, the defense still held Western Kentucky to 4-26 shooting from three-point range. The ‘Cats now second in college basketball in three-point defense as opponents shoot just 21.2%.

Andrew Carr was the star against the Hilltoppers finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, along with three assists, for his first double-double as Wildcat. Otega Oweh shared the team-lead with Carr as he also scored 18 points. Lamont Butler added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, and no turnovers. It was another story of balance for Kentucky as seven different Wildcats scored eight or more points.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest performance. Western Kentucky offered legitimate resistance throughout this one. The Hilltoppers found success in transition, at the rim, and forced Amari Williams into six turnovers. Quite simply, Williams did not play well despite his stat line of eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and four blocked shots. Kentucky was disjointed at times offensively, took a few ill-advised shots, and weren’t quite as connected. However, half court execution took the place of some transition success to grind out the 19-point victory. Let’s step inside the film room and take a look at how Coach Pope made adjustments to lead the Wildcats to an 87-68 win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Set Plays Set the Tone Early

Coach Mark Pope has been a wizard when it comes to getting Kentucky an easy basket on the first play of the game. Even dating back to the first exhibition game against Kentucky Wesleyan, the ‘Cats have had a special draw-up to get the game started. That was true once again on Tuesday night against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. However, the half court set plays didn’t stop there. Just a couple of possessions later the ‘Cats ran a set that led to another made basket. Typically relying on free-flowing basketball and transition, the Wildcats scored their first five points via half court set plays. That trend would continue as half court execution played a big role in the 87-68 victory over the Hilltoppers.

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Using Jaxson Robinson as a screener is essentially an offensive cheat code. The defense is not going to be willing to help towards the basket on this back screen for fear of Robinson popping for a three. Of course, if they were to help and take away Andrew Carr on the back screen, then he would in fact pop to the wing for an open three-point shot. Amari Williams does a good job of delivering this pass with two hands. When he turned it over later in the game it was generally on one-handed passes. Overall, there is nothing flashy about this set play but it worked to perfection.

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This is a called action that was specifically meant to exploit the way the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers guard. Coach Pope knows they switch all ballscreens and handoffs. Therefore, he wants to test the Hilltoppers 5-man early on to see if he is ready to aggressive switch out hard enough to take Jaxson Robinson away from three off of a handoff. The short answer is, no, he was not. Western Kentucky tries to switch the little cross screen set by Lamont Butler on Robinson and then #5 Faye isn’t out quick enough to keep him from launching the three behind the handoff. This was an excellent play call by Coach Pope to get Robinson going early.

Exploiting the Hilltoppers Propensity to Switch

Anybody who has watched the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers play knows they switch ballscreens and handoffs one through five. We talked about it in the KSR Scouting Report. Coach Pope and his staff obviously were aware of it as well. There are a handful of different ways that you can attack teams that want to switch. Early in the game, the Wildcats slipped some ballscreens which is always a good idea against a team that switches. However, one pass was errant and Amari Williams lost the ball while going up on another. Where the ‘Cats did exploit the Hilltoppers’ switching though was by putting specific defenders into uncomfortable, unfamiliar positions. Let’s take a look.

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A lot of teams tend to force feed the post when a switch presents a mismatch. However, the better way to attack it is usually from the perimeter. When Western Kentucky switch this initial one-five ballscreen Lamont Butler backed the ball out and went to work. All it took was a left-to-right crossover for Butler to beat his man, then, knowing the center would be looking to block his shot, he used a shot fake to draw an And-1. That is a textbook example of how to exploit a mismatch.

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Lamont Butler showed what it looks like when a center tries to guard a point guard. This time around you see what it looks like when a center has to dig in the post and then closeout to the perimeter. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers had cut their deficit to six midway through the second half. In order to stop the bleeding, Coach Pope dialed up a set play. From a box set, Ansley Almonor comes off of a couple diagonal back screens while Andrew Carr screens the second screener, Otega Oweh. Carr then turns to ballscreen in order to get the switch. He rolls into the post and gets a catch against his much smaller defender. Western Kentucky’s center converges down to help and then is caught in a closeout recovering to Oweh. Great drive, great finish.

Execution and Recognition

Part of having an older team with a ton of college basketball experience is being able to rely on their ability to figure things out during live action. They don’t always need to look towards the sidelines for direction. Instead, they can recognize an area to exploit and then go execute in real time. The Kentucky Wildcats certainly flashed that ability at times, especially down the stretch, against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. This team’s basketball IQ should not go under appreciated.

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The instant recognition of the give-and-go between Jaxson Robinson and Amari Williams is something that can’t really be taught. You can drill it in practice, but until you face it during live action you can’t replicate making decisions at game speed. With a defender guarding him 40-feet from the basket, Robinson hits Williams and immediately cuts towards the rim. Williams hits him with a perfect pocket pass to give Robinson a runway towards the rim. Western Kentucky’s defense is now faced with a tough decision. Do you help and give up a three or stay home and give up a wide open layup? The Hilltoppers elected to help off of Otega Oweh. Robinson found Oweh with a perfect pass and he nailed the three. Oweh is 8-18 from deep through six games.

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Western Kentucky was guarding the staggered double with their 5-man sagged all of the way back at the top of the charge circle. That means that he would be completely out of position if a quick ballscreen were to come. Once Koby Brea got a catch off of Brandon Garrison’s downscreen, Garrison flipped and set a ballscreen with no help on the other side. #4 Lander for the Hilltoppers is used to switching, but his teammate obviously wasn’t there. The result was a completely wide open Brea three-point shot. He is now 23-34 from beyond the arc this season.