Watch the Tape: Kentucky Defeats Rival Louisville Cardinals 93-85

Winning is always fun. However, beating the Louisville Cardinals is even more fun. It wasn’t always easy at Rupp Arena on Saturday night, but #5 Kentucky moved to 10-1 with a 93-85 victory over the rival Cardinals. In a game that seemed to live in between seven and 10 points, the Wildcats could never quite get over the hump and put them away. Louisville, who entered the game 344th nationally with a 27% three-point shooting percentage, got hot and connected on 14 triples. That went a long way towards keeping them in the game for all 40 minutes. Specifically it was Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards, and Noah Waterman who got hot from deep. Those three entered shooting a combined 38-139 (27.3%) but went 12-27 (44.4%) at Rupp.

Despite Louisville’s uncharacteristically strong three-point shooting performance, paired with their lowest turnover rate since opening night against Morehead State, Kentucky was still able to mostly control the game. The ‘Cats were hot from beyond the arc themselves shooting 11-21 led by Lamont Butler’s legendary 6-6 performance. He finished with a career-high 33 points after being questionable right up until game time. Otega Oweh added 17 points while Jaxson Robinson chipped in 12 points. Andrew Carr and Koby Brea rounded out five Wildcats in double-figures with 10 points a piece. Transition excellence and half court execution were the name of the game in this one.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest matchup. The Wildcats were able to overcome losing the three-point and turnover battle to knock off their rival to begin the respective Coach Pope and Coach Kelsey eras. Defensive concentration ebbed and flowed throughout the game, but offensively the ‘Cats were their typical selves. We will highlight the half court execution, showcase Kentucky’s best passing and cutting game of the year, and finish with some constructive criticism on the defensive end. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at the Wildcats’ 93-85 victory over the Louisville Cardinals.

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Louisville Suffered Death by Zoom Action

Dating back to the off-season we knew that Zoom Action was going to be a big part of this Kentucky offense. As only Big Blue Nation does, we hurried to watch BYU tape once Coach Mark Pope was introduced as our new leader. It was obviously a big part of what they did and we started to anticipate what it would look like in Lexington as we added each piece of the puzzle. Now, with 11 games of proof of concept, it remains an offensive focal point. On Saturday night abasing the Louisville Cardinals, the ‘Cats executed Zoom Action time and time again. Whether it was shooting a three behind the handoff, curling to the rim for a layup, or back cutting the downscreen the Wildcats consistently found different ways to score off of the same action.

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What makes Zoom Action so hard to guard is its multiplicity. While the structure of the play remains the same the offense reacts to what the defenses gives them. Andrew Carr came off the downscreen, Amari Williams kept the handoff, and Jaxson Robinson popped back to the perimeter in this clip. Robinson obviously doesn’t need much space and was able to squeeze off the three-point shot. Kentucky has had a lot of offensive success this season when using Jaxson Robinson as a screener. His shooting ability and offensive aggressiveness puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

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This is a textbook Zoom Action clip. When Coach Pope signed Koby Brea this is the type of shot we envisioned him making in a Kentucky uniform. Brea’s defender ran into Jaxson Robinson’s downscreen and Hepburn was unable to switch out quick enough to take him away. It is so hard to guard Brea in these situations because of his combination of size and shooting range.

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The Louisville Cardinals had already been burned by Koby Brea settling behind the handoff for a three-point shot. Now, in this clip, they switch out aggressively to take him away from three, but do so too early and he was able to curl the downscreen for a dunk. This was a great pass by Amari Williams and a great cut by Brea.

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What worked early in the game still worked in the final minutes. The Louisville Cardinals really had no answer for Kentucky’s Zoom Action. Once again, they switch out aggressively to try and take away the three-point shot, but Jaxson Robinson back cuts to the rim and finishes the layup. Great pass by Brandon Garrison and a great cut by Robinson.

Passing and Cutting Led to Half Court Offensive Execution

Kentucky assists on 59.1% of their field goals which is 43rd in the country, per KenPom. However, that mark ballooned to over 70% on Saturday night as they assisted on 23 of 32 field goals against the Louisville Cardinals. The Wildcats were especially effective cutting off of the ball in this game. We showcased some of that success in the above Zoom Action clips, but there were many more possessions that deserve to be replayed. Per Synergy, Kentucky scored 14 points (on seven possessions) via a cut. That is their second most of the season behind 16 points (on 11 possessions) against Gonzaga.

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Good things happen when you pass the ball out of the post. The Wildcats have generally been very good at moving and cutting when the ball goes in the post this season. They get to a split action and almost always have someone diving to the rim. However, neither Amari Williams or Brandon Garrison, despite being excellent passers, have shown much ability to kick it out with their back to the basket. That changed on Saturday night against the Louisville Cardinals. This a great pass by Williams and an excellent “45-cut” by Otega Oweh for the layup.

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Reading the defense and taking what the defense gives you is the biggest strength of Kentucky’s offense. Once again, the threat of Koby Brea is played a big role in this offensive action. Louisville is ready to aggressively switch out on the perimeter, but that allows Lamont Butler to slip the downscreen for a layup at the rim. Great pass by Andrew Carr and a great cut by Butler.

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Both Brandon Garrison and Amari Williams were much more willing to kick the ball out of the post on Saturday night. Coincidently, it led to them combining for eight assists. this is a great pass by Garrison and a great back cut by Lamont Butler.

Areas for Improvement Defensively

The Wildcats dropped from #30 to #45 in the KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric after the 93-85 win on Saturday night. Kentucky allowed 1.16 points per possession to the Louisville Cardinals which was the second worst mark of the season. There is no doubt that Louisville had plenty of positive three-point shooting variance, but some of that was admittedly allowed by the ‘Cats. Additionally, the Cardinals had far too much success at the rim. The lack of rim protection, specifically from Amari Williams, is starting to grow into a bit of a concern. Let’s look at a couple clips from Saturday night and discuss how Kentucky can make some minor improvements on the defensive end.

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This sort of play happened far too many times against Louisville. They drove the ball to the rim, were met by Amari Williams who was a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year, but he offered absolutely zero resistance. Not jumping and not putting his hands up is not acceptable. When he would get vertical it led to missed shots by the Cardinals. However, that did not happen consistently enough. That needs to change immediately.

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Kentucky has generally been at their best defensively when they are more willing to switch. However, relying too much on switching can lead to some breakdowns. Against the Louisville Cardinals, at times, it seemed like the ‘Cats were unsure as to whether or not they were supposed to switch. At this point in the game you simply cannot loose Hepburn. He had already a few at this point, but was allowed another wide open attempt due to a miscommunication. Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler are both fifth year seniors and good defenders. This should not happen when those two are involved in the play. The Wildcats will need to limit communication breakdowns as SEC play begins.

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This was Kentucky’s primary problem when it came to the Louisville Cardinals’ three-point shooting. They just needed to break their rhythm a little bit more. Hepburn and Edwards were both better shooters than their percentages indicated. Aside from maybe one or two breakdowns, the ‘Cats contested them fairly well. Even here Koby Brea has a hand up. However, Edwards is just far too comfortable bouncing it on the perimeter. Brea needed to be more active to stunt at him, crowd him and bounce back, and break his rhythm so he couldn’t just dribble into a three. A little bit more activity could have made all of the difference.