Kentucky Wildcats
SEC (26-8, 13-5)
Kentucky certainly had some high expectations to live up to after last year’s impressive regular season. Even though just about everybody from that 2014-2015 team is now in the NBA, the Wildcats were still expected to compete for a national title. But there have been some mixed results. The young team beat Duke in the third game of the season, but later lost games to UCLA and Ohio State and proved to have some trouble away from home in SEC play. Still, this is a very talented team and those lofty preseason expectations should not go away yet. This is a team that can make a Final Four run.
Big Wins: 11/17 vs Duke (74-63), 12/26 Louisville (75-73), 2/13 at South Carolina (89-62)
Bad Losses: 12/3 at UCLA (77-87), 1/16 at Auburn (70-75), 2/2 at Tennessee (77-84)
Coach: John Calipari
Why They Can Surprise:
Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray have turned into one of the best backcourt duos in the country. Ulis, a 5-9 sophomore, is a leader in every sense of the word. He dishes out 7.2 assists per game and leads the defensive effort as well. But Ulis is not just a point guard who finds his teammates, he is a great scorer too, averaging an impressive 17.2 points per game. Ulis is not the best three-point shooter around, especially when compared to Murray, but he is not shy about hoisting up some long balls. Murray, a 6-4 freshman, is the team’s leading scorer with 20.1 points per game. He also adds 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals. Murray takes over half of his shots from beyond the arc and has made 110 three-pointers heading into the NCAA Tournament. When you add fellow freshman Isaiah Briscoe, who will do a little bit of everything, Kentucky’s strength has moved to the perimeter this season.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The frontcourt has plenty of star power too. Alex Poythress is the lone senior in the regular rotation and Marcus Lee and Derek Willis are both upperclassmen as well. Poythress and Willis are both great athletes and Lee’s athleticism pays off on the defensive end. Skal Labissiere was supposed to be the next big thing at Kentucky. He is averaging about 16 minutes per game and, at 6-11 and 215 pounds, is certainly a presence defensively, but he has not made the huge impact that most expected. Kentucky will commit quite a few fouls, so having that frontcourt depth is very important and guys like Labissiere and Isaac Humphries will play some important minutes in the NCAA Tournament. But what could hurt this team the most is their inexperience. Compared to last year’s squad, this team is not that inexperienced, but only Ulis and Poythress really have major postseason experience. A backcourt full of underclassmen could catch up to Kentucky eventually.
Probable Starters:
Tyler Ulis, Sophomore, Guard, 17.2 ppg, 7.2 apg, 1.5 spg
Isaiah Briscoe, Freshman, Guard, 9.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 5.2 rpg
Jamal Murray, Freshman, Guard, 20.1 ppg, 2.1 apg, 5.1 rpg
Alex Poythress, Senior, Forward, 10.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg
Marcus Lee, Junior, Forward, 6.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Isaac Humphries, Freshman, Forward, 2.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Skal Labissiere, Freshman, Forward, 6.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg
Charles Matthews, Freshman, Guard, 1.7 ppg
Derek Willis, Junior, Forward, 8.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 79.0 (44th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.9 (85, 4)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.6 (31, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.7 (25, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.6 (211, 10)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.8 (125, 4)
Free-Throw Percentage: 67.5 (260, 9)
Rebound Margin: 6.0 (32, 2)
Assists Per Game: 14.5 (101, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.3 (52, 3)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2015 NCAA Second Round win over Hampton
2015 NCAA Third Round win over Cincinnati
2015 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over West Virginia
2015 NCAA Regional Final win over Notre Dame
2015 NCAA National Semifinal win loss to Wisconsin
2014 NCAA Second Round win over Kansas State
2014 NCAA Third Round win over Wichita State
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Louisville
2014 NCAA Regional Final win over Michigan
2014 NCAA National Semifinal win over Wisconsin
2014 NCAA National Final loss to Connecticut
2013 NIT First Round loss to Robert Morris
2012 NCAA Second Round win over Western Kentucky
2012 NCAA Third Round win over Iowa State
2012 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Indiana
2012 NCAA Regional Final win over Baylor
2012 NCAA National Semifinal win over Louisville
2012 NCAA National Final win over Kansas
2011 NCAA Round of 64 win over Princeton
2011 NCAA Round of 32 win over West Virginia
2011 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Ohio State
2011 NCAA Regional Final win over North Carolina
2011 NCAA National Semifinal loss to Connecticut
2010 NCAA Round of 64 win over East Tennessee State
2010 NCAA Round of 32 win over Wake Forest
2010 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Cornell
2010 NCAA Regional Final loss to West Virginia
2009 NIT First Round win over UNLV
2009 NIT Second Round win over Creighton
2009 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame
2008 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Marquette
2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Villanova
2007 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Kansas
*all team stats through 3/6
