Watch the Tape: Kentucky Beats the Texas A&M Aggies 81-69

Never apologize for winning. That is especially true in the Southeastern Conference. Despite playing without National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, Auburn dominated Mississippi State 88-66. Ole Miss went into Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama 74-64. Florida lost at home, 83-82 to Missouri. Arkansas fell to 0-4 with a loss at LSU. Needless to say, it was an eventful Tuesday night of league play. However, the #8 Kentucky Wildcats methodically took care of business at Rupp Arena defeating the #11 Texas A&M Aggies 81-69. It was the Wildcats’ fifth win over a Top 15 team already this season. Stacking wins is the name of the game this season. Take them, and cherish them, when they come because none of them will be easy.

Jaxson Robinson led the way for Kentucky for a second straight game scoring 22 points on 5-13 shooting from beyond the arc. Robinson also pulled down a career-high 8 rebounds. Andrew Carr added 13 points while Otega Oweh chipped in 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Amari Williams was excellent as well finishing with 8 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists while playing his best defensive game of the season. All nine players really made a difference in the game for the ‘Cats. In the end, Kentucky assisted on 19 of 24 made field goals, shot 77.4% from the free throw line, and held the Aggies to their worst offensive rebounding performance of the season. Wade Taylor IV missing the game is a caveat that deserves mention, but it was a massive when for the Wildcats regardless.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Wildcats turned in arguably their best defensive performance of the season, certainly against a high-major opponent, and were excellent on the glass against the best offensive rebounding team in college basketball. We will highlight some of those defensive improvements while, as always, shining a spotlight on what is now the second best offense in the country according to KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 81-69 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.

Amari Williams’ Breakout Defensive Performance

Down in Starkville we experienced the Jaxson Robinson breakout game. He scored 27 points, shot 7-10 from three-point range, and led the Wildcats to a big road win. We then saw that carryover to Tuesday night when he scored 22 points on 5-13 shooting from deep in a win over the Texas A&M Aggies. Amari Williams may have had a similar defensive breakout performance to what Jaxson Robinson experienced offensively. He was only credited for one block, but he was constantly involved in the action at the rim and a big reason why the Aggies shot just 8-17 on layups. His activity level was different than what we have seen so far this season.

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When #35 Obaseki drives it left he is going to get all of the way to the rim and lay it up. However, when he is diving it right, he is much more likely to pass. Amari Williams did a good job of sliding over in order to be in position to protect the rim. However, Obaseki tried to dump it off and Williams was able to deflect the pass. In scramble mode, Koby Brea had a good closeout and got a 26.3% shooter to take, and miss, a corner three. Good job by Jaxson Robinson coming up with the loose rebound as well. It was Williams though who created this defensive stop with his activity level and hands at the rim.

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Kentucky might have just unlocked what made Amari Williams a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year. You can’t teach what he does in this clip. So many times this season we’ve seen opponents lay the ball in without him putting his hands up, jumping, or attempting to impact the shot at all. However, he is all over the place on this possession. He does a great job in drop coverage staying lower than the roll while stunting at the ball handler. Then, he gets vertical and makes #35 Obaseki pass it off to #15 Coleman III. Finally, Williams quickly whips around and blocks the shot at the front of the rim. That is a big time effort play.

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Here is proof that Amari Williams had more than the one block he was credited for in the box score. The previous clip very clearly shows him blocking the shot at the rim. Then, you can clearly see him get a piece of #1 Phelp’s shot here. Regardless though this is another example of great rim protection. It has been far too easy for opponents to score inside so far this season. That might have started to flip against the Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday night.

Kentucky’s Cutting Led to Easy Baskets

Per Synergy, Kentucky scored 14 points and was a perfect 100% from the field via a cut. That marks two straight games where the Wildcats have had a lot of success off of “simple” cuts to the basket. Dating back to his time at BYU, cutting has always been a big part of Coach Pope’s offense. However, it really feels like we starting to see that portion of the offense blossom here in SEC play at Kentucky. Andrew Carr has been the primary beneficiary as he is a great cutter, but several different Wildcats got in on the action Tuesday evening at the Texas A&M Aggies.

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Right out of the gate we saw Andrew Carr’s cutting ability against the Aggies. He does such a great job of finding the soft spot in the defense and making himself available to the passer. This was an excellent play by Amari Williams as well. Earlier in the season he likely would have charged or gotten the ball stripped away from him due to over penetration. However, he gave it up after just one dribble and found an open Carr with a beautiful interior pass. Those two are starting to play off of one another at a really high level.

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The Texas A&M Aggies are going to sell out in order to stop dribble penetration. They also really look to take charges. Therefore, they are going to slide over from the weak side aggressively leaving themselves vulnerable to baseline cuts like you see here. Jaxson Robinson does a great job of sliding along the baseline as his man leaves to go help on Lamont Butler’s drive. Kentucky routinely made the Aggies play for bad defensive rotations like you see in this clip.

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It was very fitting that Andrew Carr started the game with a basket off of a cut and then essentially sealed the game with a similar bucket. Anytime Otega Oweh can reject a ballscreen and get downhill it generally leads to good offense. He showed some growth as a playmaker on Tuesday night as well finishing with four assists against Texas A&M. Also, once again, Andrew Carr does a masterful job of cutting into the soft spot as his man turns his head and gets a great pass from Oweh right around the SEC logo. This little floater put the ‘Cats up 10 and essentially ended the game.

Ball Movement and Half Court Offensive Execution

You don’t end up with one of the best offenses in college basketball by accident. Kentucky assisted on 19 of 24 made field goals against the Texas A&M Aggies. While there is a requisite level of talent and shot-making required, it is the Wildcats’ cutting, ball movement, and overall half court execution that always stands out offensively. This is a team where the whole is truly greater than the sum of their parts. Let’s take a look at the #2 offense in the country, according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric, against the Aggies.

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Kentucky, and specifically Andrew Carr, did a great job of exploiting some mismatches caused by the Texas A&M Aggies switching defense. In this clip you see #1 Phelps, a 6’5″ guard, get switched onto Carr. This is a perfect high-low pass from Amari Williams, but also check out the spacing. All four Aggies’ defenders on the perimeter are hugged up to their man. That is the gravity that comes with putting high-percentage shooting threats on the floor.

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Brandon Garrison has caught some criticize at times for being a bit of a ball-stopper. However, the statistics speak for themselves. Kentucky’s backup center has a nearly two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio with 37 assists and just 20 turnovers. This is a perfect example of his passing ability here in this clip. Garrison short rolls to right around the free throw line and gets the pass from Lamont Butler. First, check out how Butler’s eye-fake to Almonor in the corner opened up the pass to Garrison. Then, Garrison immediately whips the ball out to a wide open Jaxson Robinson for a three. That possession gave Kentucky a 35-32 lead going into the halftime break.

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Jaxson Robinson’s next progression as a player will involve him improving as a playmaker. This play flashes what he can become in that realm. Robinson makes a perfect crosscourt pass to Travis Perry, from a live dribble, and Perry knocks in the shot. That shot capped off a spurt that put the Wildcats up 12 points on the Aggies. It never got closer than six points the rest of the way.