Watch the Tape: Kentucky Takes Down the Lipscomb Bisons 97-68

There was no letdown in Lexington on Tuesday night. After an emotional 77-72 win over Duke in the Champion’s Classic, followed by a week layoff, some would worry about the team being mentally ready to play the next time out. That was not an issue for Coach Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. This team, full of older guys, was more than ready for the next challenge. Kentucky jumped out to an early lead on the Lipscomb Bisons and never looked back. In fact, they added to their lead at every media stoppage until building a 40-point advantage in the final four minute segment. The Wildcats took it to the preseason Atlantic Sun favorites and moved to 4-0 with a 97-68 win to begin the BBN Invitational.

For the fourth time in as many games the Wildcats had a different leading scorer. This time it was Jaxson Robinson leading the way with 20 points on 6-10, 3-6, 5-5 shooting. It was quite the response for Robinson after he scored just one point against Duke. Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh added 16 points and 14 points respectively while Koby Brea rounded out those in double-figures with 12 points. Amari Williams just missed adding another double-double finishing with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Overall, the ‘Cats shot 12-25 from three-point range as they continue to prove themselves as one of the most efficient, and explosive, offenses in college basketball.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Wildcats had yet another elite offensive performance. They shot the lights out, were excellent in the paint, and dominated in transition once again. On the defensive end it was a bit of a tale of two halves, but overall it was a promising performance. In this breakdown though we will be focusing on the offense and some of the revelations coming out of Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. Let’s dive on into the film room and take a closer look at how the Wildcats knocked off the Lipscomb Bisons.

Opposing Defenses Have a Decision to Make

Opponent scouting is all about putting yourself in the best position to win the matchup. Often times, at the highest levels, it can be boiled down to picking between the lesser of two evils. That is what it must be like now when game planning for Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler. Neither were prolific shooters at their previous stops.

Oweh made 37.7% of his three-point attempt last season, but that was on low volume. He made just 20 triples on the season. Meanwhile, Butler was a career 32.1% three-point shooter and had never made more than one per game in a season. It makes sense why opponents choose to go under ballscreens and up through other screening action when guarding these two players. They are more dangerous as drivers than they are as shooters. However, that is starting to become less and less clear.

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Otega Oweh is doing his part to blur that line. He is off to a 6-11 start from beyond the arc this season. Soon, opponents will have to make a very difficult decision. Do you continue to go under and up through while letting him shoot it in from deep? Or, do you start to chase him and open yourself up to him curling to the basket and whipping you off of the dribble. Here you can clearly see that the Lipscomb Bisons game plan was to go under screens against Oweh. #10 Powell went up through the downscreen and then under the ballscreen. That is a wide open shot that Oweh is going to make.

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At the end of this possession, Lamont Butler’s defender goes under the ballscreen as the point guard rises up to make him pay. Similar to Oweh, Butler shoots a good percentage on these wide open looks. Eventually, now that they are a combined 10-20 to begin the season from deep, defenses might have to adjust how they guard them. However, if that were to happen, both would have much more success off of the dribble as a result. Their flashes of shooting ability will at least make the decisions more difficult going forward for opposing coaches.

Jaxson Robinson as a Ballscreen Shot-Creator

Jaxson Robinson was expected to be the leading scorer and best offensive player for this Kentucky team. However, even after leading the way with 20 points against the Lipscomb Bisons, he is just fifth on the team averaging 10.8 points per game. We saw some flashes on Tuesday night though of what can, and will, make him the go-to scoring threat as the season continues. Robinson really showed progression as a ballscreen shot-creator and scorer against the Bisons.

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Robinson displays a tight handle, great pace, and high-level understanding of spacing as he plays off of the ballscreen. He immediately snakes back towards the middle of the floor to keep his defender on his hip. That also gives Brandon Garrison time to roll and occupy his defender. Kerr Kriisa’s gravity keeps his defender from coming in too far to help. All of that space eventually leads to a little floater at the SEC logo.

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Here is another look at Jaxson Robinson slicing up the Lipscomb Bisons defense. He could have squeezed off the three-point attempt as his defender nearly got caught going up through. However, he turned it down and used the ballscreen. Once again, he snakes back in front of his defender, keeps him on his hip, allows Amari Williams to roll, and then knocks in the floater. That patience is hard to teach.

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After Lipscomb got burned in the intermediate range a couple of times they tried to adjust. Jaxson Robinson adjusted as well though and simply was the better player. The Bisons end up switching this ballscreen this time to keep a guy on a guy. However, the split second of extra space triggered Robinson to step back into a three-point shot. His processing and awareness while maintaining a live dribble is really impressive in these instances.