Three Keys to Victory for No. 19 Kentucky on the Road Against Missouri
SEC play is upon us.
That may or may not be good news for the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats, who will open the conference slate on the road tonight inside Mizzou Arena, taking on the 11-1 Missouri Tigers.
The 8-3 Wildcats have been far from impressive through the first stretch of the season, falling to top competition while not always breezing by mid-major foes. First-year head coach Dennis Gates and the Tigers fall somewhere in the middle.
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After being picked to finish 11th in the Preseason SEC Media Poll, Mizzou has catapulted near the Top 25 thanks to an electric offense and a softer schedule. It has scored 80 or more points in 10 of 12 games this season, but the stat becomes diminished when you see that it has also played one of the bottom-50 schedules in the nation, per KenPom.
Learn more about UK's upcoming opponent — the 11-1 Missouri Tigers — here.
Regardless, the Tigers are far from slouches, and they'll have the help of a sold-out crowd to try and defeat the Cats in Columbia for the third time in four tries, in what would also be just Mizzou's third ever win over Kentucky.
Coach John Calipari's group needs momentum in the worst way, and what better way to gather some than a win over a seemingly-solid conference foe on the road. Here are three keys to victory for UK:
Stay Disciplined and Disruptive on Defense
It's no secret that the Tigers are going to chalk up their fair share of points. At 88.8 points-per-game, they have the fourth-highest scoring offense in the nation.
One thing that Mizzou lacks is size, so coach Gates will play plenty of five-out offense, putting plenty of moving parts and eye candy in motion to lull defenses to sleep, leading to easy looks.
Cleveland State transfer guard D'Moi Hodge brings home the bacon, leading the team at 16.7 PPG. The ball will find his hands and he will shoot it, simple as that. Hodge is currently shooting 3-pointers at a 42 percent clip and has scored at least 15 points in nine games this year. What makes him special for Mizzou is the fact that he's only turned the ball over on six occasions thus far.
If you ask UK assistant coach K.T. Turner, stopping veteran guard-forward Kobe Brown is as important as anything on defense:
"Kobe Brown, he really helps them out, the way he can bring the ball up, he can post it, he can hit trail threes," Turner said. "The way they play five-out, they just spread you out, we're gonna have to do a really good job of guarding the ball ... but the biggest thing is stopping Brown."
Brown, who just scored a career-high in Mizzou's win over then-No. 16 Illinois, checks in with 14.4 PPG and a team-high 5.7 rebounds-per-game. He and Hodge are two of five Tigers who currently average double-digit points.
Mizzou will do its best to get out in transition against UK, as they have a top-25 tempo in college hoops. The Wildcats have to keep the operation running smoothly on that side of the ball and cannot allow the run-and-gun style to get going.
On the other side of the coin...
Limit Turnovers
Missouri is far from a great defensive team, but it sure knows how rack up turnovers, forcing 19.83 of them a game, ranking seventh in Division I.
The Cats average just 12.3 giveaways-per-game, but have eclipsed that number in three of their four games against Power Five opposition this season, highlighted by 18 in the 63-53 blunder of a loss to UCLA.
Through the season, Calipari has preached mental toughness and staying locked in. Those senses need to be heightened in a big way on the road against a team that feeds off of its opponents mistakes.
Guards Cason Wallace and Sahvir Wheeler are tied for the team-lead in turnovers at just 22. Star center Oscar Tshiebwe is responsible for 16 of his own, though a number of those are due to poor entry passes in the block that leave him out to dry, getting swallowed up by double and triple-teams, leading to the ball going down the other end of the court.
Kentucky will not be able to get away with having 10-plus possessions that see nothing but "ball movement" around the perimeter that leads to no real chance at a basket. There must be clear intentions from every Wildcat on the court when it comes to running the offense, because Mizzou will take advantage of most hesitations.
Take care of the basketball.
Abuse the Advantage on the Offensive Glass
The Wildcats are 11th in the land in offensive rebounds, collecting an average of 13.91 a night. Tshiebwe obviously is the main reason for that, as he gobbles up five every game by himself.
As good as Missouri is with the ball in its hands, it sometimes struggles to retrieve it after an opponent misses. The Tigers average just 22.67 defensive boards, which is 320th in D1.
The aforementioned Brown, who stands at just 6-foot-8, is the tallest that the Tigers have to offer. You can do the math here.
If Big Blue Nation is going to get treated to a classic Tshiebwe performance on the glass, this game has the opportunity to turn into just that. Throw in Ugonna Onyenso down low as well, and the Cats should have no issue wiping out the Tigers in the paint.
In a game that has the potential to be as hectic as this one, taking care of business via rebounding the basketball is as necessary as ever. Kentucky can control the pace and not let the game turn into a track meet — as long as it abuses the one clear advantage that it holds over the scrappy Tigers.
Tip-off between the Wildcats and Tigers is set for 7 p.m. EST and will air on the SEC Network.
Latest NBA Mock Draft includes two Wildcats. More here.
See where Kentucky landed in the new AP Poll here.
COLUMN: Patience not guaranteed to yield success for Kentucky basketball
More on the victory over Florida A&M here.
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