Watch the Tape: Kentucky Outlasts the Florida Gators 106-100

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watch-the-tape-kentucky-outlasts-the-florida-gators-106-100 — Jaxson Robinson | Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

There won’t be many college basketball games played at a higher level than Saturday’s matchup between the #6 Florida Gators and the #10 Kentucky Wildcats. If you are a fan of offensive firepower and shot-making this was the game for you. The Gators jumped out to an early 26-15 lead, but a 16-0 run over the course of four minutes put the ‘Cats on top. Florida tied the game late in the half, but another 10-0 run from the Wildcats built a 52-42 lead at the break. Kentucky would never relinquish the lead again. One final 10-0 run in the second half helped put the game away as the ‘Cats protected the Rupp Arena floor and came away with a thrilling 106-100 victory. The win made Kentucky the first and only team this season with three wins against the AP Top 10.

Per usual, it was a story of balance for the Wildcats. Six scorers finished in double-figures, in fact, six scorers finished with 14 or more points. All six of those players had specific stretches where they helped win the game. Koby Brea led the way with 23 points on 7-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Lamont Butler finished with 19 points and 8 assists. Otega Oweh added 16 points while Amari Williams chipped in 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Finally, both Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson contributed 14 points. Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin were the best players on the floor, but the depth of Kentucky won in the end. The Wildcats are now 12-2 on the season and, most importantly, 1-0 to start Southeastern Conference play.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Florida Gators dominated the offensive glass and outscored the ‘Cats 31-12 on second chance points. However, the Wildcats made 14 three-point shots, the Gators missed 13 free throws, and Kentucky outscored them 20-4 on points off turnovers. It was a hard fought battle between two excellent college basketball teams. Ultimately, Kentucky’s offensive machine was enough to overcome the star power of Clayton Jr. and Martin. We will address some defensive issues, but in this film breakdown we will primarily highlight the Wildcats’ offensive excellence. Saturday showed a glimpse of the offensive ceiling and it was very exciting. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 106-100 victory over the previously undefeated Florida Gators.

Ballscreen Defense Remains a Legitimate Concern

Let’s get the bad part out of the way. A lot of credit goes to the Florida Gators for how well they played offensively at Rupp Arena. Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin hit some incredibly tough shots and showed why they are two of the best guards, not just in the Southeastern Conference, but in the country. What they got wasn’t all because of defensive breakdowns. However, especially the ballscreen defense, remains a major issue for the ‘Cats. Defensive rebounding obviously was a major issue on Saturday as well, but there isn’t as much you can talk about in the film room on that subject. Here are some clips that will showcase the breakdowns in ballscreen coverage as we discuss how the ‘Cats can improve in that area.

The Florida Gators’ big men did an excellent job inside of sealing Kentucky’s potential rim protection. You can see in this clip how #9 Chinyelu ducks in as the ball is being driven and walls Brandon Garrison off from blocking the shot. However, the first issue is at the point of attack. When #15 Martin gets the handoff from the Zoom Action there is just too much space for him to play in. Andrew Carr never gets the ball corralled so Otega Oweh isn’t able to recover from chasing off of the downscreen into the handoff. If Kentucky is going to play drop coverage they have to do a better job of actually stopping the ball. There just isn’t enough resistance here from Carr.

This clip showcases almost the opposite problem from the previous one. Florida is in another Zoom Action this time with #5 Richard coming off the handoff going left. Koby Brea runs directly into the downscreen which probably should just trigger a switch. However, he continues to chase the ball while Brandon Garrison steps up. With Lamont Butler not being able to tag on the roll off of #1 Clayton Jr. it leaves #10 Haugh wide open for the layup. This is an example of Kentucky getting caught in no-man’s land defensively. If Garrison is going to hard hedge he needs to get out earlier and more aggressively. If he is going to play drop coverage then he needs to be down near the SEC logo deterring the roll more. Also, Brea and Garrison probably just should have switched this one.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Kentucky defense wasn’t much better. On the very first possession the Florida Gators were able to scheme an open look for #15 Martin. Otega Oweh can’t get caught going up through this screen. Then, he compounds the mistake by turning and watching the shot as opposed to being prepared for a long rebound. This is a tough one, but it also is a back-breaker after a bad first half on the glass. Finally, Oweh makes a third mistake by over helping on the #1 Clayton Jr. drive. You shouldn’t be helping at all off of #15 Martin. The second chance opportunity led to three points to start the half for Florida. This was a bad defensive possession by Otega Oweh.

In a perfect world, Andrew Carr would be back one more step to the free throw line in order to make the pocket pass tougher. However, this is a good play by #15 Martin to hit #10 Haugh on the roll. Going forward in SEC play Kentucky will have to improve their rim protection. They just aren’t getting enough from Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison in that area. Here Garrison is too locked into hand-to-hand combat. He isn’t really being sealed so he needs to step up and meet #10 Haugh outside of the restricted arc with verticality. It looks like he was more worried about beginning to box out than protecting the rim. While the effort, after getting whipped on the glass, is understandable you still have to be able to play the game and attempt protect the rim.

Big Shots Spark 16-0 First Half Run

It isn’t easy to go on a 10-0 run against a really good opponent. However, Kentucky put together three such runs on Saturday against the Florida Gators. The first of those three runs was a 16-0 spurt over the course of four minutes that took the ‘Cats from down 26-15 to up 31-26. Koby Brea and Otega Oweh were the stars of that offensive flurry. Let’s take a look at a few of the big shots that flipped the game in the Wildcats’ favor.

This shot to stop the bleeding quickly turned into the start of Kentucky’s 16-0 run. With Jaxson Robinson coming off of the staggered triple it completely emptied the right side for Lamont Butler to drive to the basket. As Butler attracted the attention of four Gators’ defenders, Koby Brea did a great job of occupying the corner. That is an offensive tenant when a baseline drive occurs. Butler displayed great vision to find him over the defense and deliver the pass. Brea isn’t going to miss very many when he is this wide open.

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You could almost feel the basket getting bigger and bigger in the eyes of Koby Brea as the game went on. This shot to tie the game really blew the roof off of Rupp Arena. Ansley Almonor did a great job of getting right into the Zoom Action and Lamont Butler’s basket cut put enough pressure on Florida’s switching man-to-man defense to free up Brea behind the arc. You can see how Brea’s defender started to go with Butler just for a split second and that was enough to allow the deep three-point attempt. Brea is the best shooter in college basketball.

It was certainly fitting that Otega Oweh capped off Kentucky’s 16-0 run. He scored 10 points in that four minute stretch culminating in this corner three-point shot. Oweh is now 14-37 (37.8%) from three-point range. Once again, it was a basket cut by Lamont Butler that froze the defense just enough to allow for the open catch-and-shoot attempt. Rupp Arena was absolutely rocking at this point.

Second Half Offensive Execution

When Kentucky hired Coach Mark Pope a lot of Big Blue Nation’s excitement stemmed from the belief that an exciting, “modern” brand of offense was coming to Lexington. There has been proof of concept throughout the season as the ‘Cats have been one of the best offensive teams in college basketball. That was certainly true on Saturday as the Wildcats scored 106 points against an, at the time, Top 20 defense. On a points per possession basis it was their best performance of the season. Consistent execution in the second half allowed Kentucky to maintain their lead and beat the Florida Gators.

If you watched any of BYU last season you would have seen Jaxson Robinson make plenty of shots like this. What really stands out from an execution standpoint in this clip though is the multiple actions that Kentucky turns over in the same possession. From the initial staggered double wide screen, to the flare set for Lamont Butler, to the reversal into a Zoom Action the ‘Cats throw a lot at the Gators. Otega Oweh sets a great downscreen to free up Robinson to create separation off of the handoff. This is a big time shot to quiet an early second half Florida run.

If you wanted to get into coach speak you would call this “Wide Horns Backscreen Ballscreen Exit.” That is the description of the initial actions in this half court set. However, the Florida Gators actually defended all of that to begin the play. Kentucky immediately flowed into more offense though and it got Koby Brea open for yet another three-point shot. His defender over pursues to try and beat him over top of the screen, but Brea is able to stop and create separation away from the screen with a side step. This is a really high-level shot.

Just watch the constant ball and player movement on this possession. Watch it several times and follow a specific player each time. The amount of ground that each player covers is staggering. Eventually the result is another Koby Brea three-point shot off of multiple shot fakes. You won’t find a more beautiful possession of half court basketball than this.

Coach Pope, especially late in games, likes to utilize this UCLA cut for Andrew Carr to get a touch inside. However, the Florida Gators saw this one coming and guarded it well on the first side. As the Wildcats did so seamlessly in the second half, they simply flowed into more offense. The ball got reversed to Lamont Butler, Amari Williams ran into a ballscreen, and Carr ducked his man in on the opposite block. That is where he was able to get a catch, make a move to the midline, and score a big bucket to put Kentucky up six.