Willie Cauley-Stein dominates in Cats win over Ole Miss
February 5, 2014
By David Schuh | Basketball columnist
UK’s recent defensive problems have never been more apparent than they were coming into Tuesday night.
For a team that was scoring at such a high rate, many had wondered why it was surrendering points with just as much frequency.
And much of the blame could be placed on the shoulders of sophomore forward Willie Cauley-Stein. His drastic dip in production was a clear anecdote for why the Cats gave up an average of 83 points in the last two games.
But after UK’s 80-64 win over the University of Mississippi on Tuesday night, that blame was turned into praise, as Cauley-Stein turned in his best all-around performance of the season.
His main struggle over the past month was just staying on the floor long enough to make a difference.
In the last six games before Tuesday, Cauley-Stein had averaged just 16 minutes per game. His output suffered when his minutes dipped.
Over that span, Cauley-Stein scored 14 total points on 5-of-22 shooting. He wasn’t doing enough to warrant his previously typical playing time.
Due to foul trouble and those repeated mistakes, UK head coach John Calipari benched Cauley-Stein in favor of freshman center Dakari Johnson.
On Tuesday, UK fans saw a different player.
Cauley-Stein played 29 minutes, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.
“He was outstanding tonight,” Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said. “His length was bothersome. Even when we would come up with somewhat of a stop, he was always there to get the ball.”
And it wasn’t just the obvious things that Cauley-Stein did. Ole Miss senior guard Marshall Henderson is one of the more prolific scorers in the SEC. So UK threw everything it had at him — including the tallest player on the court. When Henderson would run off of baseline screens, Cauley-Stein made it difficult to get open looks.
Due to the Cats’ relentless pressure on him, the SEC’s third-highest scorer needed 18 shot attempts to get his 16 points. Coming into Tuesday’s game, when Henderson shot at least 18 times, the Rebels were 0-3.
Make that 0-4.
UK needs this Willie Cauley-Stein going forward.
When he’s on the bench, UK isn’t as good, and it’s noticeable.
“I had to get that confidence back on defense and everything else would turn out for itself,” he said. “I was watching film last night on my defensive presence and trying to get my timing back on blocking shots … It was a difference-maker.”
He is the difference-maker. And when he plays like he did on Tuesday, UK is a complete team.
