UK faces road test before weekend showdown
February 12, 2014
By Nick Gray
With a high-profile matchup in four days, UK has one more obstacle to overcome – Auburn University.
The Cats have four games to finish the month of February after Wednesday’s game at Auburn, all against teams in the official RPI top 80. The stretch includes Saturday’s game against RPI No. 5 University of Florida during ESPN’s College GameDay.
If the Cats win their final eight games, they will win the SEC regular season title.
But before UK can look ahead to the rest of its conference schedule, it must play at an icy Auburn Arena, where the Tigers have played their most competitive basketball.
Auburn suffered conference home losses against the University of Missouri and Florida, but each were in the balance in the final minute. Missouri escaped Auburn Arena with a two-point victory on Jan. 11, and Auburn junior guard KT Harrell missed a potential game-tying three-point shot against Florida with 56 seconds left on Jan. 18.
The Tigers have been running their offense through Harrell and senior guard Chris Denson, who combine for more than 39 points per game.
Auburn head coach Tony Barbee said on Monday’s SEC teleconference that Denson reminds him of former Memphis guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. UK head coach John Calipari made the same comparison with Douglas-Roberts and freshman guard James Young.
“(Denson) is a guy that can score the ball in a variety of ways,” Barbee said. “It doesn’t always look pretty. He has some unorthodox shots, floaters, flip shots in the lane that are really hard shots that he makes look real easy.”
UK’s transition defense struggled in the first half on Saturday, leading Calipari to substitute senior forward Jon Hood for the final eight minutes of the half. Nine players played 10 or more minutes at Mississippi State University, which is unusual under the Cats head coach. Calipari has said that he likes seven and eight-man rotations, something that has been more fluid this season.
Barbee said Calipari is starting to get better play out of the Cats.
“They are continuing to grow, continuing to get better so I don’t think he is frustrated,” Barbee said. “I think he is just somewhere along the process in helping this team, like he does with all of his teams, get to a point where they are playing their best basketball as they get to late in the season.”
