Watch the Tape: Mississippi State Bulldogs

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Leading into this game we talked about the importance of holding serve at Rupp Arena. Two home games against teams the ‘Cats are supposed to beat offered an opportunity to put the overtime loss in College Station in the rearview mirror. The #8 Kentucky Wildcats (13-3, 3-1) took their first step towards that goal with a convincing 90-77 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night. For the first 20 minutes, Kentucky played as well as they had all season long. There was near-perfect execution on both sides of the floor as they jumped out to a 47-29 advantage. The defensive execution was most impressive as the ‘Cats completely neutralized Tolu Smith inside. However, that would all quickly change to begin the second half.

For as encouraging as the first half was, the first few minutes of the second half featured a regression to old habits. Mississippi State came out of the locker room and cut their 18-point deficit to just six inside of three minutes. Luckily for the fans in Lexington, that run was short-lived. Just as quickly as the ‘Dawgs cut it to six, the ‘Cats ran it back up to a 14 point spread. Then, it was pretty much cruise control the rest of the way as Kentucky moved to 3-1 in the SEC. Antonio Reeves once again led the Wildcats scoring 27 points in the contest. Rob Dillingham added 16 points off of the bench while Tre Mitchell chipped in 15 points on perfect 5-5, 1-1, 4-4 shooting. Aaron Bradshaw rounded out those in double-figures with 11 points.

As always, we’ve been hard at work inside of the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest game. There was a lot to like about this one. For about 80%-85% of the game the Wildcats played championship-caliber defense. That is certainly a step in the right direction coming off of allowing 97 points at Texas A&M. On the offensive end, it was just more of the same. The ‘Cats hung 90 points on a Top 10 defense that came in allowing only 64.8 points per game. Execution, spacing, and balance continue to be the recipe for what is one of the best offenses in all of college basketball.

In this edition of watch the tape we will highlight the defensive growth, showcase what makes this offense so elite, and nit-pick some areas for improvement. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 90-77 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

More Frequent Flashes of Championship-Caliber Defense

We have seen some glimpses of hope on the defensive end of the floor in SEC play. Kentucky held Florida scoreless for a three minute stretch late in the game to secure a big road victory. Then, Missouri didn’t score a field goal for a 10 minute stretch as the Wildcats pulled away late. However, a lot of that progress went out of the window after allowing 97 points to Texas A&M. By no means was everything fixed on Wednesday night, the ‘Cats still fell to 60th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, but there were more, prolonged stretches of very good defense. The question remains whether or not this team can be “good enough” defensively to support a championship-caliber offense. On Wednesday night, the answer would have been yes.

Kentucky’s activity level both on and off of the ball against the Mississippi State Bulldogs was maybe the best it has been all season. There was still a little too much running at the ball, but they made big strides in stunting and helping without overcommitting. To begin this possession you see Rob Dillingham and Ugonna Onyenso successfully ICE the side ballscreen. Dillingham’s ball pressure makes #13 Hubbard pick up his dribble as well. Then, you see Reed Sheppard stunt at #1 Smith at the top of the key to deter that pass. Onyenso does a good job on the second ballscreen as well and comes up with a big block. Antonio Reeves kept himself in the plays as well by staying on #0 Jeffries’ hip.

In recent games we have had to pick on Reed Sheppard a bit for his lackluster off-ball defense. However, on Wednesday night, he was excellent and made some very high IQ plays. This is legitimately perfect execution by him to steal the entry pass to #1 Smith. Sheppard is guarding #3 Moore who is a decent shooter, but not someone you need to be overly worried about when they are multiple passes away. Therefore, as Moore cuts along the baseline, Sheppard stays to help on Smith in the post and is able to sneak in behind to steal the entry pass. When Kentucky is able to use their defense to create easy offense they are nearly unbeatable.

Kentucky turned in 30 full seconds of high-level defensive execution here. It was good to see the ‘Cats be a little more aggressive at the point of the ballscreen against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Aaron Bradshaw gets out and essentially hard hedges this ballscreen which ultimately makes #10 Davis pick up his dribble and move away from the basket. That is textbook. Then, Justin Edwards deserves a lot of credit on this defensive possession. He did a great job of closing out way short to #22 Scott and essentially not guarding him at all. When the ball went inside to #15 Bell Jr., Edwards stayed and doubled which led to an off-balance pass to the top of the key as the shot clock went below three seconds. Reed Sheppard contests the shot and the ‘Cats rebound the ball.

This is another clip with a lot of really positive examples of defensive development. The possession starts with good on-ball defense by Antonio Reeves and a sound, under control closeout by Reeves on #10 Davis. Everyone on the perimeter stays at home instead of converging on the ball. Then, DJ Wagner and Ugonna Onyenso successfully cover up the downhill ballscreen on the left wing. Finally, as the shot clock winds down, Wagner aggressively digs at the ball as #1 Smith drives it left. This is a perfect example of what coaches mean when they say “if you are going to go, you better steal it.” Also, Smith is a guy who came in with three times as many turnovers as assists. You didn’t to be too worried about him kicking it out here.

There are five to 10 more defensive clips we could have shown from Wednesday night’s win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but let’s fast-forward to the second half just to prove it wasn’t all bad down the stretch. This is another example of some increased aggressiveness at the point of the screen from the Wildcats. Aaron Bradshaw is able to get #4 Matthews moving away from the basket and forces him to pick up his dribble. Then, Bradshaw recovers and does a good job of staying between #1 Smith and the basket. When forced to finish over Bradshaw’s outstretched arms Smith missed the hoop entirely. Good all-around defensive execution.

Best Offense in College Basketball

Sometimes it admittedly feels like opponents consistently have more offensive success against the Wildcats’ defense. However, that is exactly how every opposing defense feels when going against Kentucky’s offense as well. The Mississippi State Bulldogs entered Rupp Arena ninth in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. They were allowing just 64.8 points per game on the season. That changed on Wednesday night as the ‘Cats went off for 90 points on just 69 possessions. Teams are left with very little margin for error when they know Kentucky is going to score 90 points almost no matter what.

Something that jumped out right away was how the Mississippi State Bulldogs were trying to keep Kentucky from running offense. On paper, there is no reason to hugged up on DJ Wagner out near the half court circle. Sometimes the best way to guard a team is to try and take them out of what they want to do. Denying the ball reversal forced the ‘Cats to improvise. However, that is exactly why you want as many skilled players as possible. Improvisation is a strong suit for this Kentucky team. Antonio Reeves was unable to reverse the ball to Wagner, but look how much space there was because the Bulldogs were guarding a guy 35 feet from the basket. Reeves was able to turn the corner and score with a patented runner in the lane.

We’ve started to take Kentucky’s offensive spacing for granted now that it has become the norm through 16 games. However, we shouldn’t forget how the spacing is what unlocks the greatness of this offense. Check out the spacing as Aaron Bradshaw runs into a high middle ballscreen for DJ Wagner. Reed Sheppard is high and wide on the wing. Rob Dillingham and Justin Edwards are deep in their respective corners. That leaves the entire middle of the floor for Wagner to essentially attack Mississippi State’s 5-man one-on-one. Not much you can do there defensively if you are #15 Bell Jr.

This clip provides another example of how Kentucky was able to exploit Mississippi State for guarding them so far away from the basket. Similar to that first offensive clip with DJ Wagner, here the Bulldogs are out trying to deny Rob Dillingham nearly 40 feet from the basket. What really makes this play though is Ugonna Onyenso coming all the way out to set the high ballscreen. He has become a very effective screener and it was smart of him to come all the way out and find Dillngham’s defender. Setting the ballscreen that high gives Dillingham a ton of space as he rises up and knocks in the pull-up jump shot.

There are times where it is fair to question this team’s basketball IQ on the defensive end of the floor. However, offensively, this is one of the smartest groups we’ve seen at Kentucky. Their understanding of spacing and where to be on the floor is really, really high level. On this possession you see Ugonna Onyenso coming all the way out near the half court circle to set the ballscreen for Rob Dillingham. That’s a great way to space the floor with him in the game. Then, Dillingham gets downhill and throws a beautiful left-handed drift pass to Tre Mitchell. Reed Sheppard’s defender drops down to take Mitchell leaving the 53% three-point shooter wide open. Great job by Antonio Reeves spacing away to ensure his defender couldn’t guard both himself and Sheppard.

Room for Improvement Still Remains

Evaluating is always about perspective. Kentucky is being evaluated on a national championship level curve at this point in the season. They hold a Top 10 ranking, have the best offense in the country, and are making strides defensively. However, the fact remains that they still have flaws. The Mississippi State Bulldogs scored 1.12 points per possession on Wednesday night. For all the talk about Kentucky’s defense, that isn’t a good number. Furthermore, the ‘Dawgs grabbed 35% of their own misses on the offensive glass. The Wildcats continue to get better, but there is still room to improve. That is why we will nit-pick the film and highlight some areas where the ‘Cats must continue to grow.

There was definitely some “here we go again” among the fans at Rupp Arena as the Mississippi State Bulldogs came out of the gate hot from three-point range. However, the first two that they hit were not a result of anything Kentucky did defensively. They were just good plays and good shots. That changed with this third three-pointer, #5 Jones Jr.’s second in a row. The Wildcats were much better about this on Wednesday, but Reed Sheppard had a breakdown here running at #4 Matthews for no reason. He is not a threat to score it unless he is literally at the rim. Tre Mitchell had time to recover and Ugonna Onyenso was at the front of the rim too. Sheppard decided to abandon his man, who had just made a three, to run at the ball though.

First of all, this three-pointer comes after one of Mississippi State’s 14 offensive rebounds. If Kentucky simply ends the possession with a defensive rebound they would have never been in this situation. However, #5 Jones Jr. is able to drive it right which drew too much help and #13 Hubbard knocked in open corner three. The first breakdown on this possession comes from Reed Sheppard on the perimeter. He takes himself out of possession jumping out towards the sideline and opening the gate for a strong hand, straight line drive. Then, DJ Wagner compounds the mistake by over helping off of a shooter. Sheppard had done a good job of getting back in the play and cutting off the drive. There should be zero help off of Hubbard.

Tolu Smith had a huge second half, but he was completely neutralized by Kentucky’s defensive game plan and execution in the first half. In the KSR Scouting Report we talked about going aggressively dig the ball out of the post, but that you needed to come from the high side. Also, as always, if you are going to go you need to do so aggressively and either come up with a steal or a foul. DJ Wagner just never fully committed and got himself stuck in no man’s land allowing a wide open three to #10 Davis.