Kentucky Needs These Three Players to Trend Upward Against LSU

Kentucky basketball finds itself at a crossroads of sorts heading into the meat of its schedule.

The Wildcats have no leg to stand on when it comes to bidding for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they're unranked for the first time all season. The loss to Missouri to open conference play was a stern reminder that they're currently behind the pack, but the drubbing of rival Louisville portrayed light at the end of the tunnel.

The time for coach John Calipari to get his team trucking in the right direction is now, but it won't be as simple as making a few "tweaks" and pushing a few buttons. UK begins a pivotal four-game stretch in the early goings of January, beginning Tuesday night in Lexington, as the 12-1 LSU Tigers enter Rupp Arena.

Coach Matt McMahon has his new-look team in tip-top shape moving into 2023, as exhibited by the Tigers' latest win, a 60-57 shocker in Baton Rouge over the highly ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Much like Mizzou, LSU has the feel of a team that's not quite the caliber of the SEC's elite, but good enough to beat anyone on any given night.

The Tigers will serve as a measuring stick for Kentucky, primarily to see if the Louisville win was simply an easy outcome against a horrendous opponent. Gears appear to be turning for Calipari's group, but a couple of cogs need to stay in motion on Tuesday night.

Get to know LSU here.

UK needs these three players to keep trending upward if it wants to defeat the pesky Tigers and start the new year with a bang:

Jacob Toppin

You probably could have guessed that Toppin was going to be on this list, but he's clearly the biggest question mark on the roster as of now. What version will show up in Rupp Arena on Tuesday?

Was the dominance over Louisville simply because it was a novice-level opponent with no answer? Or did something click for the senior that was perhaps missing over the past month? How about both?

All answers are possibilities, and the LSU game won't provide a full answer, that will come over the next few weeks. The mental side of basketball has clearly been weighing on the forward, so how does the fresh mindset and 10 added baskets last Saturday propel him when going up against a stout defense and tough frontcourt like the one LSU will bring?

Toppin doesn't have to score 10-plus points a game to be a major contributor to the Wildcats. His potential for spark-plug plays is enormous thanks to his freak athleticism, and that doesn't have to equal crazy alley-oops and dunks. That can be used to pull down a couple extra rebounds on the offensive glass or swat away shots on the defensive end as well.

As Toppin mentioned, he felt rock bottom in the loss to Mizzou last weekend. The deathly glare on the bench was telling enough. He hit that reset button upon returning to Lexington, and was rewarded with a career-high in points in his return to the starting lineup.

The kick-start has occurred, he now has to continue to find ways to be a successful teammate on the floor on a consistent basis.

Antonio Reeves

Over at the shooting guard position, CJ Fredrick has taken a heap of the blame, as his first season playing for the Wildcats hasn't panned out the way that many had hoped or expected.

With Fredrick unavailable to play against Louisville to a dislocated finger, the opportunity appeared to be there for Reeves to fully shine as the lone SG on the court for the Cats, but instead he started on the bench and played just 16 minutes, 15 of which came in the second half.

Playing the sixth-man role is certainly something that a player with Reeves' style could suit, but it was a change that felt a bit unexpected. The Illinois State transfer has been in a sneaky slump of sorts, at least when it comes to connecting on 3-pointers.

In the month of December, Reeves went 8-27 behind the arc, a 29 percent clip. Not a horrid stretch by any means, but clearly not good enough to suffice playing starting minutes. The numbers look much worse when just peeking at the last four games, which saw a 2-8 performance in the loss to UCLA, 2-7 against a bad Florida A&M defense and a combined 0-5 against Mizzou and Louisville.

It's not due to lockdown defense, either, as a majority of Reeves' misses have come when he's open. His first two games of the season saw him lead the Cats in points, combining for 40 of them on 13 made baskets, perhaps setting an unreachable average for the Chicago native.

Calipari doesn't need Reeves to score 20 points a night, though he sure wouldn't scoff at it. He just needs the SG to do what he was brought to Lexington to do — hit some shots.

"You don't have to make em' all...you just can't miss em' all."

Sahvir Wheeler

One of the more polarizing players in the Calipari era is still causing riffs between Big Blue Nation on the daily. Sahvir Wheeler has days where he appears to be crucial to the Wildcats' success.

There are also other days...where the opposite is thought, to say the least.

Yet, Wheeler is leading the SEC in assists again and is seventh in the nation, averaging 6.7 per-game. He's also shooting 38 percent from 3-point range, easily his highest clip of his career. The issue surrounding Wheeler often isn't something seen on the box score.

He's someone who excels getting downhill, pushing the pace in transition, getting to the rack or kicking it out to following shooters. With Calipari's "deliberate" offense, that isn't happening much, as exhibited by the No. 241 tempo in the nation. Numbers back it up, as 13 turnovers over the last four games aren't doing the veteran any favors. Dump down passes are still at an all-time high due to Oscar Tshiebwe's presence, but all they're leading to are double-teams in the post and TO's that show up on Tshiebwe's statline, but frankly should show up elsewhere.

Juggling Cason Wallace and Wheeler on the court at the same time seems to have worked perhaps better than expected, though it's clear who the Cats would rather have the ball in their hands down the stretch.

Wheeler needs to find a way to do more of what he does best. Long possessions with dribbling and meaningless perimeter passes are certainly not that.

Tip between the Wildcats and Tigers is set for 8 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN.

Three takeaways from the win over Louisville can be found here.

Game notes from the win over Louisville can be found here.

Everything Calipari said after the game can be found here.

Want the latest on national football and basketball recruiting, including Cats targets? Head over to SI All-American for the latest news, blogs, and updates about the nation's best prospects.

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