This season, the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats have garnered a lot of glory for their offensive prowess but their defense must not be overlooked.
Prior to Kentucky’s matchup with Lipscomb, the Cats averaged an astounding 93.3 points per game. Despite Head Coach Mark Pope’s 3-point-oriented squad separating itself from opponents, the defense shined against Lipscomb.
“I was happy about challenging shots, for sure, both inside the three and outside,” Pope said. “I was really proud of us in the first half, we only gave up one back door (against) this great back door cutting team.”
Lipscomb shot 1-13 early in the game, which included a near five-minute scoreless streak. In that stretch, the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to extend their lead.
Unlike previous opponents Kentucky has faced, Lipscomb was shooting more deep balls than the Cats at a considerably higher volume. Here’s the caveat: Lipscomb missed its first 13 attempts from three.
The Cats were disruptive on the perimeter all night.
Kentucky guard Otega Oweh blocked a 3-point try, then, a deflection by guard Lamont Butler paved an easy fastbreak score for Oweh.
During Lipscomb’s 15 minute-long 3-point dry spell, Kentucky guard Jaxson Robinson ignited his team’s offense by putting up 13 points.
The graduate was connected in a variety of ways; two deep balls, an and-one basket and 5-5 shooting on the free throw stripe. Robinson finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“I think we did a pretty good job (tonight defensively), especially coming off the last one (against Duke),” Robinson said.
There’s something proverbial about the basketball adage, “live by the three, die by the three.”
By halftime, the Wildcats shot 8-13 from the 3-point line and Lipscomb started underwhelming by going 2-19 from the same distance. At the final horn, Kentucky hit 12-25 to Lipscomb’s 5-29 output from three.
“We shot 48% from three, so I just like getting more of them (up), but I’m proud of that,” Pope said. “I mean, it’s a really important part of our team.”
Additionally, Kentucky blocked five jump shots. The Wildcats finished with six total rejections: two each from Oweh, center Amari Williams and forward Brandon Garrison.
Late in the second half, a deflection by Kentucky guard Collin Chandler went spiraling toward the out of bounds. The loose ball was hiked like a center in football to a wide open Williams for a highlight worthy slam.
Rupp Arena erupted with “oohs” and “awes.”
“There’s a lot to be really pleased about on the defensive end,” Pope said. “(Moving forward), I’d like to see us really develop a standard where it doesn’t matter what time or score we are locked in on (the whole game).”
Defense was paramount for the Cats’ success as Lipscomb was held to 39% from the field and a disastrous 17% from deep. Additionally, Lipscomb held multiple scoreless spells, which allowed the offense to run away with a 97-68 massive victory.
“Our guys are really hungry to become a great team,” Pope said. “We don’t have a lot of time to do that, so last game was over and it was kind of like, ‘how can we get better?’”
The Wildcats will return to Rupp Arena to face off against Jackson State on Friday, Nov. 22. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be aired live on SEC Network.
