Watch the Tape: Kentucky Takes Down the Tennessee Volunteers

Get your brooms out, folks. The Kentucky Wildcats have completed the regular season series sweep of the rival Tennessee Volunteers. Winning two games against a Top 5 opponent is impressive enough, but the manner in which those wins came for the ‘Cats is really special. When Kentucky won 78-73 in Knoxville they played without Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, and got just 90 seconds from Andrew Carr. Then, in their 75-64 win at Rupp Arena, Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa were out while Lamont Butler left the game with 8:40 to play. What this team continues to accomplish while playing short-handed is incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, that may need to continue throughout the month of February as the status of Butler and Robinson is shaky at best.

Big Blue Nation probably didn’t have Tuesday night’s box score on their collective bingo card. Ansley Almonor shared team-leading honors with Otega Oweh with 13 points. Then, Koby Brea and Trent Noah each added 11 points. Travis Perry chipped in 8 points as well. Almonor, Noah, and Perry, who began the season as Kentucky’s 9th, 11th, and 12th men combined to play 53 minutes and score 32 points in a win over #5 Tennessee. That is truly mind-blowing. The continued resilience of this team, and coaching staff, has been fun to follow through the peaks and valleys that come from dealing with injuries. However, the end of that roller coaster ride is nowhere in sight currently. The ‘Cats are right back to it on Saturday with a Quad 1 opportunity at Texas.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. It was a second straight excellent defensive performance from the Wildcats. The ‘Cats held Tennessee to 34.6% shooting from the field, 3-18 from three-point range, and turned nine turnovers into 12 points. Overall, the concentration, execution, and urgency has been on a different level in these last two games. While the defense has shined of late, the offense continues to operate a high-level despite missing key pieces. We will certainly highlight the defensive improvements, but the offense once again deserves to receive its flowers as well. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at #15 Kentucky’s 75-64 win over the #5 Tennessee Volunteers.

Disruptive Defense Leads to Offensive Opportunities

Forcing nine turnovers against a team that is middle of the pack in terms of taking care of the basketball isn’t exactly ground-breaking. However, it is a step in the right direction for a Kentucky team that is near the bottom of college basketball when it comes to forcing turnovers. The ‘Cats had two steals on their first two defensive possessions and ultimately turned nine Tennessee turnovers into 12 points. Some added aggressiveness, overall urgency, and the return of Lamont Butler has done wonders for this Wildcats’ defense. Here are some clips that showcase how Kentucky’s defense was able to disrupt the Tennessee Volunteers’ offense and turn it into transition opportunities.

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Leave to Lamont Butler to immediately insert himself in the game after missing the contest down in Knoxville. Kentucky was able to beat the Tennessee Volunteers the first time around by playing off of #5 Zeigler. They packed the paint, goaded him into taking 11 three-point shots, and limited his playmaking ability. However, with Butler back in the fold, the ‘Cats were able to pressure Zeigler a bit. On the very first possession of the game Butler got up in Zeigler, stole the ball, and went to lay it up on the other end. This great individual play set the tone for the full 40 minutes. Lamont Butler’s two-way impact on this team cannot be overstated.

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Being disruptive isn’t just about forcing turnovers. Sometimes it is simply about speeding up the offense or disrupting their timing. Koby Brea has arguably been one of Kentucky’s worst defenders this season. However, he has been excellent in these last two wins for the Wildcats. Check out his urgency on this possession. He is flying around to contest #11 Gainey not once, not twice, but three times. Finally he gets Gainey to miss a contested mid-range jumper which leads to a defensive rebound and Kentucky is out in transition. Brea’s defensive urgency directly led to a Trent Noah’s three-point shot. Plays like that can bring a big swing in momentum.

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The reason why switching defensively can be so effective is that it generally leads teams to operate outside of their comfort zone. #2 Lanier sees Lamont Butler matched up on #34 Okpara. That is a 6’2″ point guard on a 6’11” center. The human nature reaction is to attack the “mismatch.” However, as we’ve said before in the film room, a mismatch is only a mismatch if you have an advantage. There is a reason why the Tennessee Volunteers don’t throw it to Okpara in the post very often. He is excellent as a lob threat, but not much of a back to the basket scorer. Butler’s pressure on the entry pass, and Okpara’s lack of comfortability on the block, led to another Tennessee turnover.

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These are the plays that win close basketball games against really good teams. The Tennessee Volunteers were in transition with a chance to cut the lead to one or even tie the game. However, Lamont Butler had other ideas. His timing is truly impeccable. He picked the perfect moment to knife he is way to the ball, corralled the steal, and then hit a streaking Otega Oweh up the opposite sideline for a dunk. That play was good for a quick four-point swing to put the Wildcats back up by five points.

Defensive Urgency Forces Missed Shots

The Tennessee Volunteers are not a very good shooting team. However, they are much better than they showed at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. That isn’t meant to take anything away from the Wildcats. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Kentucky deserves a ton of credit for the way they flew around the floor and made life difficult for the Volunteers. That is how you hold a team to 34.6% shooting and 3-18 from beyond the arc. Before shifting our focus to the offensive end, here are a couple of more clips of the ‘Cats defensively to highlight their recent improvements.

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When the Tennessee Volunteers run their floppy action it is to get a shot for #2 Lanier or #11 Gainey. If you step up and take those guys away then they might have something at the rim for one of their big men. However, a contested three-point shot from #8 Dubar is not what they are looking to get. Kentucky did an excellent job on Tuesday night of making life difficult on Lanier and Gainey. Those two combined to score 18 points and 25 shots.

In this clip you see the urgency with which Trent Noah is playing with in order to stay tight to Gainey and chase him off of the downscreen. That is what leads to poor shooting nights. Tennessee wasn’t able to get what they wanted, Andrew Carr was in the gap enough to make #5 Zeigler give it up, and then recovered to contest a low-percentage shooter. Sometimes all it takes is for you to play really, really hard. You never have to worry about that with Trent Noah.

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When you are playing really hard and flying around defensively the execution doesn’t have to be perfect. Kentucky maintained good gap principles while also closing out to the perimeter on each catch. Otega Oweh got up and pressured #7 Milicic Jr., but Andrew Carr knew he could help aggressively off of #5 Zeigler. Carr stayed with Zeigler on the drive while Koby Brea used his length to stunt hard at the ball handler. Then, Brea closed out with urgency to a solid catch-and-shoot threat in #11 Gainey. Tennessee was getting a little bit of penetration and ultimately got a decent shot, but the way the Wildcats moved in concert with one another allowed for a good contest in the end.

Offensive Execution Beats Country’s Best Defense

Kentucky is a bad matchup for the Tennessee Volunteers. On paper, a team that forces turnovers, defends at a high level, rebounds, and isn’t afraid to get physical has been a thorn in the Wildcats’ side. That is what led to losses to Clemson, Georgia, and Vanderbilt. However, Tennessee just doesn’t have the offensive pop that even those teams do. In five of the Volunteers’ seven Southeastern Conference victories they’ve held the opponent to 56 points or less. That simply isn’t going to happen against Kentucky. Conversely, Tennessee has failed to break 70 points offensively in half of their league games. That make sit really hard to beat the ‘Cats. Coach Pope and company might just have the number of Coach Barnes’ squad this season.

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This “grenade” action that Coach Pope dialed up early in the game is a great way to get Otega Oweh going downhill to the rim. It is essentially a cousin of Zoom, but run out of the post instead of on the wing. Lamont Butler cuts towards the baseline and sort of “blows up” Oweh’s man, hence the name grenade. That allows Oweh to turn the corner unabated and get to the rim for an athletic finish. The Wildcats turned to this same action again just a few possessions later.

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For all of three-point shots that Koby Brea still turns down, the three that he hit against the Tennessee Volunteers were pretty darn tough looks. Brea is sixth nationally, and first among high-major players, in points per possession as the pick-and-roll ball handler, per Synergy. Especially in the absence of Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson, utilizing him more in ballscreen situations could be something for the ‘Cats to lean on.

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Look at all of the screening and cutting that Tennessee has to guard in a short period of time. Amari Williams gets a catch at the elbow as Ansley Almonor and Lamont Butler set a staggered double for Koby Brea. Brea receives a handoff as Williams rolls to the rim. As that happens, Almonor flares in for Butler and pops back to the perimeter. #34 Okpara switched onto Almonor on the initial downscreen to free up Williams at the below. The Volunteers’ five-man had no shot of getting out to take Almonor away from three. This should have been a four-point play.

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Tennessee is excellent at protecting the rim. There was a period of time where Kentucky was struggling to finish layups against them on Tuesday night. Generally speaking, if you aren’t going to dunk the basketball your best is probably to drive and kick. It seemed like the Wildcats made a halftime adjust on that front and made a conscious effort to play off two feet and kick out to open shooters. This is a great example by Lamont Butler. He draws the help defender and calmly finds a wide open Ansley Almonor for a seemingly automatic corner three-point shot.

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Every time the Tennessee Volunteers would land a punch in the second half the ‘Cats had a counterpunch ready. Whether or not Brandon Garrison did this on purpose really doesn’t matter, but him lifting back up to the perimeter got Travis Perry this shot. Kentucky was into what essentially looked like a bit of a ballscreen/handoff continuity. Garrison had rolled to the basket, but then lifted back up as Trent Noah came off of Ansley Almonor’s handoff on the near side. That move essentially turned into a flare screen for Travis Perry who settled behind and nailed a deep three-point shot.