UK basketball facing another high-scoring guard in Jordan McRae
Freshman Forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) drives to the basket against two Tennessee defenders during the University of Kentucky vs Tennessee Men’s Basketball game in Lexington, Ky., on, January 15, 2013. Photo by Jared Glover
January 17, 2014
By Nick Gray
UK will find itself in a familiar position Saturday.
Last season, the Cats faced the University of Tennessee after a 17-point loss at the University of Florida headlined by the season-ending injury to forward Nerlens Noel. The Cats were whipped 88-58 in Knoxville.
Now, UK faces the Volunteers, this time at Rupp Arena following a buzzer-beating overtime loss at the University of Arkansas. And one of the vital in-game matchups is how the Cats will defend Tennessee’s best offensive player, a guard who sizes up with UK’s backcourt.
The Volunteers have one of the conference’s top scorers: senior guard Jordan McRae.
McRae, sixth in the SEC in scoring, joins a long line of high-scoring guards who the Cats have faced this season. In 13 of UK’s 16 games, the opponent’s leading game scorer has been a guard. Those 13 games include all four of the Cats’ losses.
At 6 feet 6 inches, McRae has shined against high-major competition, pumping out six 20-point plus games against high majors.
UK freshmen guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison measure up in size (all three players are listed at the same height), but UK head coach John Calipari has said several times that the Harrisons “stopped moving” at times on defense, including after Saturday’s win against Vanderbilt University.
“We gave up three corner jumpers — you all know now how crazy (I am) about corner jumpers. They made all three,” Calipari said after the Vanderbilt game. “Why would you do it? We stop on one and Andrew (Harrison) got hung up on a screen and pointed to a guy, like, ‘someone else pick him up.’”
Freshman guard James Young, also standing at six feet six inches, is also another option to defend McRae, but the Volunteers’ large starting frontcourt (three players at 6 feet 8 inches or taller) will force Young to guard a larger man.
Calipari has put freshman guard Dominique Hawkins into the rotation as the third option at the guard spots, primarily due to his play on defense. Hawkins is 6 inches shorter than McRae, but his coaches have lauded his energy level.
“Defensively, he puts pressure on the ball,” assistant coach John Robic said on Jan. 8. “He just brings an energy that you have to find time for him on the floor, and that’s why he’s out there.”