What was supposed to be a blowout victory for Kentucky became a much closer contest down the stretch against the Bulldogs, with the Cats ultimately earning a nine-point victory.

With defensive breakdowns and offensive spectacle, three takeaways stuck out from the Cats’ win over the Dawgs.

Big Z’s freedom brings this team to a new level

Simply put, Zvonimir Ivišić is the story of college basketball right now. What was once a five-month wait to see the court turned into one of the most memorable Rupp Arena moments in recent years.

Coming out to a chorus of cheers, “Big Z” entered the game and put together a jaw-dropping sequence of events as the Croatian went on to score 13 points, going 3-4 from beyond the arch and making the roof explode inside Rupp Arena with a behind-the-back pass for a made 3-pointer from Antonio Reeves.

Big Z wasn’t done there, however, as he blocked three shots while also logging two steals and five boards to show what he can do for this Kentucky team in just 13 minutes.

With Ivišić’s standout performance, Kentucky now has all three big men available, which only makes this top ten team even better with fans now being able to fantasize about different lineups that can see the court throughout the rest of the season.

This team was great before the arrival of Big Z, but now this team is truly elite.

D.J. Wagner is this team’s unsung hero

All the praise from Saturday night’s victory is going to either Big Z, Reeves – who had 21 points – or Tre Mitchell – who had 23 points – but the real standout performance came from D.J. Wagner, who finished with a double-double, scoring 18 points and going 8-12 from the field with two 3-pointers to go along with 10 assists.

With another impressive performance from Wagner in the books, the highly touted freshman’s stock just continues to rise from the beginning of the season. He is proving to be an important – if not the most important – piece to the puzzle for John Calipari’s team.

Defense needs to improve

In all honesty, Kentucky should have won this game by at least 20+, but it didn’t. In a familiar story this season Kentucky’s opponent scored not just 70+, but 90+.

To be frank, this Kentucky team cannot allow teams with Georgia’s talent to come into Rupp Arena and score 96 points with 61 of them coming in the second half.

This Kentucky team looks like a National Championship contender, but it needs to start playing like one as well on defense.

The current defensive scheme is not working and will end up costing the Cats games as we move deeper into the season and into March.