'6 Things You MUST Do To Beat The Kentucky Wildcats'



All statistics provided were researched and calculated by Mr. AllDayEryDay via ESPN.com

Teams and games noted either beat Kentucky (Indiana and Vanderbilt) or gave them the best competitive challenge based on final score, halftime score, and closeness of the game during its final eight minutes.  Key for exact game instances located at the bottom of this piece.  Feel free to leave any comments.

Kentucky can be stopped . . . with the right plan of course.


Play from behind.
Kentucky has had atleast a six-point lead in every game this season.  Don't get discouraged if you fall behind.  Indiana rallied from six down to beat Kentucky and Vanderbilt trailed by 14 points in its win against the Wildcats in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.

Biggest Deficit:
Vanderbilt - 14 (twice; SEC tournament win 71-64 Mar. 11 and 69-63 loss Feb. 11; both games played in Nashville)
Indiana - 6 (won 73-72 Dec. 21 on 3-pointer at the buzzer in Bloomington)
*North Carolina - 6
+Louisville - 15
^Tennesse - 8
%Florida - 9
&Alabama - 9
#Mississippi State - 9

Play at Kentucky's pace
Ideally you would want to slow down a high-scoring team like Kentucky and limit its possessions and shot attempts.  Not only is that much easier said than done, but the teams that have played the Wildcats toughest have not used that technique.  Kentucky fired 58 shots in the game it lost to Vandy and 54 in the loss to IU.  The 'Cats jacked up 63 shots in their early season matchup against North Carolina, yet the Tar Heels only lost by one point.

Field Goal Attempts Allowed:
Vanderbilt - 58 (both)
Indiana - 54
UNC - 63
L'Ville - 57
Vols - 49
Florida - 60
'Bama - 51
Miss. St. - 57

Good luck slowing down the Wildcat pace.

Defend without fouling.
When playing a team as talented as Kentucky is, you're naturally gonna want to ramp up the defensive intensity.  But being too aggressive and letting the fouls add up plays right into what the Wildcats want.  They're shooting 73-percent from the foul-line as a team on the season and the guys that get the most offensive touches -- Anthony Davis (493) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (483) lead the team in combined field goal and free throw attempts -- both shoot over 70-percent from the charity stripe.  Case in point: Kentucky had 17 free throw attempt in its one-point loss to Indiana and recorded 37 attempts in its NCAA tournament win, connecting on 35 of them.

Free Throw Attempts Allowed:
Vanderbilt - 15 (both)
Indiana - 17
UNC - 18
L'Ville - 43
Vols - 29
Florida - 20
'Bama - 40
Miss. St. - 21

Hit atleast eight three-pointers.
You have no chance beating this team if you are a team that lives in the paint.  Davis, the leading shot-blocker in the nation, lives there too, and even if he does not block your shot, he will make you think about it.  Just be careful not to get into a three-point shooting contest though.  Kentucky is shooting 37-percent from beyond the arc this year and since Jan. 1, they are hitting at a 44-percent clip (84-for-193) in games where they attempt atleast 15 treys.

Three-Pointers Made:
Vanderbilt - 8 (both)
Indiana - 9
UNC - 11
L'Ville - 4
Vols - 6
Florida - 11
'Bama - 5
Miss. St. - 9

Give Doron Lamb too much space and he will make it rain on you.

Have 4-of-5 starters score in double-figures.This may seem like a head-scratcher but Kentucky has a 2-2 record this year in games when four of the opposing five starters have scored in double-figures.  Both Vandy and IU had 4-of-5 starters score in double-figures in its wins (Vandy had four of its five starters score double-digits in all three of its matchups with Kentucky).
UNC 3 starters, 1 bench.
L'Ville 1 starter (R.Smith - 30 points).
Vols 2 starters.
Florida 3 starters. 
'Bama 3 starters. 
Miss. State 2 starters, 1 bench.

Grab atleast 12 offensive rebounds.
Second-chance points are a big factor in winning against any team.  And when playing Kentucky, they are often the difference between winning and losing.  Both the Commodores and Hoosiers had 12 offensive rebounds in their wins against the Wildcats (Vandy also had 12 off. rebounds in the Feb. 11 defeat).

Offensive Rebounds:
UNC - 13
L'Ville - 8
Vols - 6
Florida - 6
'Bama - 9
Miss. State - 6

*Lost by 1 point in Lexington (Dec. 3, ranked No. 5 in polls)
+Lost by 7 points at home (Dec. 31, No. 4)
^Lost by 3 points at home (Jan. 14, unranked)
%Lost by 3 points neutral site (Mar. 10, No. 19), also lost 78-58 Feb. 7 at home (No.7) and Mar. 4 74-59 in Lexington (No.13)
&Lost by 6 points in Lexington (Jan. 21, unranked)
# Lost by 9 points at home (Feb. 21, unranked), had 13-point lead and one point during the game, Kentucky's largest deficit of the season at the time.

'Mo Betta Blues'

No easy layups on Davis' (23) watch.

Dominant point guards have been the key to Kentucky head coach John Calipari's success in recent years.  This year, it's a former point guard who is the key dominant figure for the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats (27-1, 13-0 Southeastern Conference) and will likely be the next Coach Cal player to go first overall in the NBA Draft. From Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans at Memphis and John Wall and Brandon Knight at Kentucky, Calipari has counted on freshmen floor generals to lead their teams deep into the NCAA Tournament.   Freshmen forward Anthony Davis stands 6-foot 10-inches tall with a wingspan of a seven-footer, and is widely known for his ability to defend the paint (4.8 blocks per game, leads nation).  Davis wasn't always known for his shot-blocking though, not until the end of his junior year of high school in Chicago, when a growth spurt added him10 inches between the end of his sophomore year to the beginning of his senior year.  Calipari will take it.  Davis' inside presence is just what the Wildcats need to compliment the bevy of perimeter talents on the roster.  Sophomore forward Terrence Jones returned for another year after being a projected lottery pick last year.  Jones has the frame to bang underneath with the big men (he's listed as 6-9, 252-pounds) and the agility to take slower defenders off the dribble.  Guards Doron Lamb (48-percent from 3-point) and Darius Miller (38-percent 3-point) are spot up shooters that can light it up from deep when teams focus on stopping Davis and Jones in the paint.  Add in freshmen guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who has a similar game and body frame to Jones but with superior ballhandling, and Marquis Teague (younger brother of Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague) who leads the team in assissts per game (4.7), and it's easy to see why Kentucky is the top team in the nation and the frontrunner to win the 2012 NCAA Championship.  Here is a list of other talented players in the country putting in work for their respective teams this year.

Robinson is dominating in his first year as starter.

Thomas Robinson, Forward, Kansas Jayhawks. If Anthony Davis is the No. 1 player in the country, then Robinson is 1A.  The junior spent most of his career backing up Marcus and Markieff Morris (14.6 minutes per game in 2010-11, 31.2 mpg this year) and has flourished in his first opportunity to be a starter.  Robinson is an intimidating force on both ends of the floor.  He has a polished back to the basket game in the low post (17.4 ppg) and finishes almost everything in the paint with a power dunk.  Robinson is a better than average defender and a vacuum on the boards, as his 11.9 rebound per game average ranks second in the NCAA.

Kendall Marshall, Guard, North Carolina Tarheels.  He's not the quickest or most athletic point guard out, but his basketball instincts are advanced to the point where he might be the second coming of Jason Kidd.  If you wanted to show a young player how to play the point guard, definitely show him some clips of Marshall.  The sophomore has a knack for seeing the play before at happens, and it is largely due to him always having his head up on the dribble and he is never in a hurry when he breaks out in that UNC transition offense that coach Roy Williams likes to run.  Marshall's offense is improving - he had a career-high 22 points and went 4-for-5 from 3-point in his most recent outing Feb. 21 at North Carolina State.  Still, passing is his thing as he had 13 assists and zero turnovers in that same game.  His 9.8 assists per game average is second best in the nation.

Kris Joseph, Forward, Syracuse Orange.  It's always good when your most versatile player is your best player.  Joseph is the definition of a swingman with his ability to play in the post on both ends of the floor, play the perimeter on both ends of the floor, as well as being the go to guy down the stretch.  The senior from Montreal had a career-high 29 points Feb. 8 in an overtime win against Georgetown on a day when no one on the Orange could get anything going offensively.
 
Marcus Denmon, Guard, Missouri Tigers.  The Tigers are a guard oriented team and Denmon is the top dog.  The 6-3 senior has no problem driving the lane against the big men on offense or crashing the defensive boards, as his 5.1 rebounds per game average indicates.  What makes Denmon special for No. 3 Missouri (25-3, 12-3 Big 12) is his fearlessness as a shooter.  He has shot himself out of a early season slump and is averaging 17.8 points per game while shooting 40-percent from 3-point.

Green (23) is the unquestioned leader for Izzo's Spartans.

Draymond Green, Forward, Michigan State Spartans.  Green is quietly having the best year of his career under coach Tom Izzo and once again, Spartie looks like they have the type of squad that doesn't have a ton of flash, but is built for the NCAA Tournament.  The senior from Saginaw has put this team on his broad shoulders this year leading the team in scoring (15.5), rebounding (10.3), and is second in assists (3.8).

Austin Rivers, Guard, Duke.  It's a different type of squad for Mike Krzyzewski this year at Duke with no real go to guy on the roster at season's start.  Enter Austin Rivers, who was the top ranked high school baller by many scouting publications last year, and a fierce shooter who never met a shot he didn't like.  Rivers has the complete package on offense.  He can take you off the dribble and adjust his shot mid-air to get the best angle, or hesitate off the dribble and pull-up for jumpers.

Jones leads the Big East in poins (20.3) and rebounds (11.2).

Other players to watch:

F - Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
G - Pierre Jackson, Baylor
F - Otto Porter, Georgetown
F - Mike Scott, Virginia
F - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
G - Dee Bost, Mississippi State
G - Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
F - Jeronne Maymon, Tennessee
F - John Henson, North Carolina
G - Shabazz Napier, Connecticut
F - Perry Jones III, Baylor
F - Kevin Jones, West Virginia
F - Fab Melo, Syracuse
G - Dominic Cheek, Villanova
F - C.J. Leslie, North Carolina State
F - Cody Zeller, Indiana
G - Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas
G - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette

NCAA Sweet Sixteen: Bracket Busters

Calm under pressure

No. 11 Marquette vs. No. 2 North Carolina

#5 Kendall Marshall - Guard
6-3 186 Freshman Dumfries, VA
6.2 ppg 6.1 apg

The Tar Heels were point-guard-by-committee for the first 21 games of the season until Marshall emerged.  His first game playing significant minutes came Feb. 6 against Florida State in Tallahasee. Marshall dimed 16 assists on the Seminoles; the all-time single game record for a UNC player in an ACC game.  The freshman point possesses poise beyond his years and has been unflappable so far in the tournament.  The Tar Heels will need Marshall to settle down the offense and not get into a shoot out with a Marquette team that likes to make you play in a hurry.

No. 12 Richmond vs. No. 1 Kansas

#21 Markieff Morris - Forward
6-10 245 Junior Philadelphia, PA
13.9 ppg 8.3 rpg

The more low-post oriented of the Morris twins.  Coming off a 24-point 12-rebound performance against Illinois in the round of 32, Kansas must continue to feed its hot hand.  The Jayhawks can kill the will of the upstart Spiders by pounding them inside where they don't really have much depth.  Dominant inside play by Markieff and his brother Marcus will lead to double-teams in the post and kickouts to the perimeter that will give Kansas shooters Brady Morningstar and Tyshawn Taylor plenty of open looks.

Buford can kill you from anywhere on the floor.

No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Ohio State

#44 William Buford - Guard
6-5 205 Junior Toledo, OH
14.6 ppg 4 rpg 3 apg

Buford is the jack-of-all-trades for the Buckeyes and the team's most athletic guard.  He can hurt you on offense from either guard position.  He creates a matchup problem with his size as he has the ability to rise and shoot over smaller defenders and is fast enough to penetrate past bigger ones.  Good at drawing help defense and finding David Lighty and Jon Diebler for open 3-pointers on the perimeter or dropping off passes to Jared Sullinger when driving the paint.  You can't play off of him either as he his hitting at 44-percent clip from beyond the arc.  Buford is also the team's best on ball defender and will likely be given the task of staying in front of Kentucky freshman guard Brandon Knight.

Singleton goes hard in the paint.

No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth vs. No. 10 Florida State

#31 Chris Singleton - Forward
6-9 225 Junior Canton, GA
13 ppg 6.7 rpg 2 spg 1.5 bpg, leads team in all categories

The Seminoles might not have snuck up on anyone by surprise if it wasn't for an injury to Singleton's foot that required him to have surgery after a Feb. 12 game against Virginia.  Many assumed Singleton would be out for the season and that Florida State could not perform well enough without him to make the NCAA tournament since Singleton was playing like an ACC Player of the Year candidate before he went down with the injury.  Despite going 3-3 without their best player, the 'Noles made the tournament, and Singleton returned for the team's opening round game victory against Texas A&M after missing just over a month.  He hasn't returned to full form yet (0 points in 10 minutes against Notre Dame last round) but will be critical in tonight's game against VCU as the Rams will look to forwards Jamie Skeen (15.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Bradford Burgess (23 points and eight rebounds in last round win vs. Purdue) to carry them to the Elite Eight.