By Nick Gray | Basketball beat writer

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The Cats’ next opponent has been lost among the reaction to UK’s defeat by Michigan State University, freshman forward Julius Randle’s performance and UK’s new ranking.

Robert Morris University comes to Lexington on Sunday and is an opponent that has an experienced and productive backcourt, similar to the Spartans’ guards who gave the Cats’ freshmen trouble in the first half on Tuesday.

The Colonials boast three upperclassmen guards in senior Karvel Anderson and juniors Lucky Jones and Charles Oliver who have earned the bulk of playing time in Robert Morris’ first two games.

Anderson scored 21 points in each of the Colonials first two games, against Savannah State University and Lafayette College.

Jones, who has also played at forward, scored nine and 14 points respectively in the first two games.

Oliver is playing in his first season in the program and scored 12 points against Savannah State.

The three Colonials’ guards will play a UK team coming off of a first-half struggle against No. 2 Michigan State.

Final statistics show the UK backcourt of freshmen Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison and James Young officially had seven total turnovers.

That mark equals the amount of giveaways in the first two games for the trio.

Robert Morris forced 29 turnovers in its past two games, versus Lafayette and at Eastern Michigan University.

But beyond turnovers, the Cats’ struggles offensively by their guards compounded problems defensively in the first half against Michigan State.

Young scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half, but he was a part of a UK defense that allowed six baskets in transition in the first half.

With 10:48 left in the opening 20 minutes, he missed a three-point basket with UK trailing 16-7 early.

Michigan State sophomore guard Gary Harris grabbed the long rebound and pushed the ball down the court and past a jogging Young before dunking the ball.

Two possessions later, Young was beaten for a third time on defense, running under a screen, leaving Harris open for a three-point shot that he converted from the top of the arc.

Colonials guard Jones will be Young’s defensive assignment through most of the game. Jones tried 13 three-point shots and made six of them in three games.

Less than three minutes into Tuesday’s game, Aaron Harrison drove into the lane, but was surrounded by Spartans and was stripped of the ball by Appling.

The result was a layup by Appling in transition, one of three Aaron Harrison allowed in 11 minutes on the floor in the half.

With 1:15 left in the half, Andrew Harrison allowed a slashing Appling into the lane while Michigan State was on offense, inbounding the ball on the baseline.

Anderson has handled the ball throughout the beginning of the season, creating the majority of his shots on its own.

Andrew Harrison will defend Anderson on Sunday, and if Harrison, along with the other two freshmen, continue their struggles defensively, Robert Morris will mirror the success of Michigan State on Sunday.