Watch the Tape: Kentucky Comes Back to Defeat the Gonzaga Bulldogs 90-89 in Overtime

BRamseyKSR

watch-the-tape-kentucky-comes-back-to-defeat-the-gonzaga-bulldogs-90-89-in-overtime — Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

It was a tale of two halves in Seattle on Saturday night. Then, those who stayed up late, were treated to five additional minutes of Top 10 basketball. Despite trailing by as many as 18 points early in the second half, the #4 Kentucky Wildcats defeated the #7 Gonzaga Bulldogs 90-89 in overtime. The Wildcats are now 8-1 on the season while the ‘Zags fell to 7-2. Numerous adjustments, both offensively and defensively, changed the rhythm of the second half as things swung in Kentucky’s favor. Kentucky is now just one of two teams, alongside Auburn, with two KenPom Top 10 victories this season. The Southeastern Conference will be a gauntlet, the but the ‘Cats are building a very impressive non-conference resume.

Andrew Carr scored 13 of his team-leading 19 points in the second half and overtime to spark the comeback. He was absolutely excellent on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, Jaxson Robinson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime. Robinson also dished out a team-high five assists while filling in at point guard in some stretches. Otega Oweh added 13 points, Amari Williams finished with 12 points, and Brandon Garrison contributed 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench to round out five Wildcat scorers in double figures. Kerr Kriisa, who got the start at point guard due to Lamont Butler’s injury, finished with eight points, three offensive rebounds, and four assists. However, Kriisa was also injured during the game and will be out indefinitely following foot surgery.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. First half defensive struggles were remedied with some 1-3-1 Zone in the second half. On the offensive end, Coach Pope ran many more set plays than usual and specifically went inside to Andrew Carr down the stretch. We will highlight some of those halftime adjustments and showcase how the Wildcats were able to escape Seattle with a 90-89 overtime victory against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Defensive Adjustments

There is no fanbase quite as obsessed with zone defense as Big Blue Nation. On Saturday night in Seattle, Kentucky mixed in some 1-3-1 Zone looks in the second half to help limit penetration and stagnate the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ offense. The adjustment certainly worked as Gonzaga shot just 39.3% from the field in the second half and went 0-9 from deep. After Ryan Nembhard and Graham Ike dominated in ballscreen situations in the first half, the ‘Cats effectively stymied the Bulldogs offense in the final 25 minutes of play. Let’s take a look at some of the adjustments that were made.

Kentucky went over a lot of Ryan Nembhard ballscreens in the first half. That led to the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ dynamic point guard dishing out eight assists. Meanwhile, Graham Ike scored 18 first half points with many of those coming on the roll. As we discussed in the KSR+ Scouting Report before the game, going over on Ryan Nembhard was a dangerous proposition. When he can get downhill and attract the attention of multiple defenders there is no stopping him. It was very clear that a schematic change was necessary going into the second half.

In this clip you can see Kentucky showing that 1-3-1 Zone to begin the possession. Then, on the first pass, they morph back into Man-to-Man. The zone look followed by changing defenses effectively cut the shot clock in half as Gonzaga tried to figure out what to do offensively. Ultimately the Wildcats forced a shot clock violation. Mixing up the defenses in the second half put the Bulldogs back on their heels much more than they were in the first 20 minutes.

Coach Pope’s decision to mix in some 1-3-1 Zone has gotten a lot of praise and rightfully so. It was a smart move that worked towards taking away some of the things Gonzaga specifically hurt Kentucky with in the first half. However, Kentucky also deserves a lot of credit for simply guarding better. Per Synergy, the Wildcats still only played seven possessions of zone and nearly all of those possessions morphed to Man-to-Man after the first pass. Attention to detail, effort, and execution of Man-to-Man principles was equally as effective in the second half as the zone looks were. This is an outstanding rebound as well. The defensive execution was completely different in the second half as compared to the first half.

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Here is a look at Kentucky staying in their 1-3-1 Zone defense for an entire possession. It doesn’t take a trained eye to see how different the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ offense looked compared to the first half. They stagnated, stood around, and failed to get dribble penetration. The Wildcats were able to force contested, non-paint two-point shots as opposed to giving up layups. Again, a great rebound here as well.

The Andrew Carr Takeover

Andrew Carr was an incredibly effective and efficient post scorer at Wake Forest. He ranked in the 92nd percentile nationally scoring 1.111 points per possession on post-up opportunities last season. However, at Kentucky, he has only scored 0.852 points per possession in the post. His back to the basket ability hadn’t been fully unlocked until Saturday night against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Coach Pope emptied the playbook with several creative actions to get him touches on the block and it paid off to the tune of 13 points in the second half and overtime. Going forward, Carr’s post-up ability will have to be a bigger part of the offense. It won the ‘Cats the game against Gonzaga.

This is just a good, old-fashioned diagonal backscreen. Andrew Carr plays with such excellent pace and balance in the post. He is patient on his way to the midline and then finishes through contact for the And-1. Playing in the post more often will also allow Carr to get to the free throw line more often where he shoots 75.9%.

Coach Pope has such a unique offensive mind. This is a beautiful counter to a simple backscreen play that Kentucky has ran a lot. They had actually scored off of it, Koby Brea made a great pass to Andrew Carr for a layup, just a couple of minutes prior to this clip. Instead of setting the backscreen, Jaxson Robinson runs off of what is essentially a double flare screen and curls it towards the rim. Otega Oweh might have had him open at the rim. However, the ball moves to Carr and he gets into a staggered Zoom Action after a ballscreen. He then rolls hard to the basket, displays great hands with a tough catch, and slams it home with two hands. Carr was scoring it in a variety of ways in the second half.

We’ve seen this specific play a number of times this season. In fact, it was the very first play call of the Coach Pope era in the exhibition game against Kentucky Wesleyan. Here, the ‘Cats turned to it in the biggest spot of the season so far. Amari Williams comes off a diagonal backscreen and intentionally gets his catch a couple of feet beyond the block. That leaves space for Otega Oweh to screen for Andrew Carr who cuts towards the ball. Carr goes to work on Braden Huff and knocks in the turnaround jump shot to tie the game.