By Josh Ellis

[email protected]

UK (0-0) v. Albany (0-0)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Friday, Rupp Arena TV: SEC Network Radio: UK Radio Network

Here are three points of emphasis for the UK-Albany game Thursday, Nov. 13.

Albany isn’t easy to put away

The Cats should aim for a 10-point lead going into the second media timeout (around the 12-minute mark). Albany has made the NCAA Tournament three-straight years and gave the Providence Friors all it could handle in what should’ve been a blowout in the 2014 season opener. The Great Danes had the lead at halftime against Providence, and were only down by two points with 48 seconds left in the game.

Albany has good size, as the average height of its roster is 6-foot-5. Albany also has heaps of upperclassman on its roster (six juniors and four seniors), so other than UK’s talent there’s probably not much else the Cats will throw at them that the Great Danes haven’t already seen.

Squaring off against Kris Dunn, a national player of the year candidate this year, Albany held the Providence standout to just two points on 0-of-5 shooting in his 32 minutes of play. Though trying to corral three talented point guards will be a more challenging task, Albany has shown they can slow down a star player.

Which is why it’s important for the Cats to get off to a quick start and take any momentum from heading in the opponent’s direction. If UK can’t jump to an early lead, this game could very well be within five at halftime.

Cats’ Press could be X-factor

In its two exhibition games, UK turned opponents over a combined 34 times. Its press suffocated opposing offenses and used the new 30 second shot clock to its advantage.

Albany didn’t have much trouble with the press last season, and was first in the American East Conference in turnovers per game with 11.5. But with the 30 second shot clock, they’ve already lost five seconds from last year and will likely lose five to six more seconds trying to break the UK press.

This could really hurt Albany’s chances, since they’re a team that likes to slow the pace of play and run through offensive sets nearly every time they pass midcourt. And trying to score off an offensive-set in 20 seconds against an aggressive UK defense isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Expect zone play

John Calipari knows the zone defense is coming. All of college basketball sees it coming. The number of teams who will play a zone defense this year will be increasingly higher than last season, thanks again to the new 30 second shot clock.

Calipari asked both Kentucky State and Ottawa coaches not to play a zone in the exhibition games, because the Cats “weren’t ready for that yet.” Expect Albany to put its zone to the test on Friday, but there’s no doubt the Cats will be prepared for it.