9:00 PM EST, ESPN2 – Line: Auburn -10, Over/Under: 158
Despite once again possessing a wealth of talent, Knox and Kentucky have been tremendously disappointing thus far, embroiled in their longest long streak under Calipari, at three games.
If tonight’s Southeastern Conference Clash was a movie, it would have to Trading Places, for that’s exactly the sentiment as the Unranked Kentucky Wildcats travel to Auburn to battle the Tenth-Ranked Tigers, from Auburn Arena. That’s right, folks, you did not read that introduction incorrectly, for Kentucky (17-8, 6-6 in SEC) continues what is certainly a mediocre campaign by their standards, in search of any way to snap (get this) a 3-Game Losing Streak. While this isn’t necessarily uncharted water for John Calipari, it’s certainly rare; the last time that the Wildcats struggled through a season in this manner would have to be back in the 2012-2013 term, which just so happened to be the only of Coach Cal’s teams NOT to be invited to the NCAA Tournament. That particular team suffered through major growing pains after losing so many key contributors from the previous year’s National Championship Squad, which included stars such as Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. While last year’s incarnation came up just short of advancing to yet another Final Four, there are definitely more than just a few eerily similar parallels between this team and the one that preceded it six years ago. Then again, this is just the risk that you run when your program is relying on the One & Done method of recruiting, which annually sees considerable turnover every year. Simply put, sometimes the kids gel, and others they don’t. While we’ve all come to the conclusion months ago that this is a case of the latter, Kentucky just hasn’t done enough on the court thus far (particularly in League Play) to inspire much confidence in them being able to turn things around, let alone be selected for the Big Dance. At this point, the question needs to be asked as to whether or not this team is indeed Calipari’s worst team over the course of his 9-Year tenure in Lexington. Let’s just take a moment to look at the numbers, folks; the Wildcats rank Tenth or worse in the SEC in a number of significant categories, particularly on Offense, where they’ve been a proverbial train-wreck, including Scoring (69.9), Field Goal Percentage (43.6%), Three-Point Field Goals (4.2), Three-Point Percentage (28.7%), Free-Throw Percentage (67.2%), Turnovers (12.8), and Dead-Last in Assists (10.6). Needless to say, efficiency has been a foreign concept for these kids. Curiously, they haven’t been much better on the defensive end of the court, where you figure that they’d be able to at the very least establish an advantage due to their size and athleticism; Kentucky has allowed 70.9 Points (7th in SEC), while inexplicably giving the opposition a free-pass at the rim, permitting a disappointing 53.7% shooting from within the arc (13th in SEC), while relinquishing 13.7 Assists (11th in SEC), and mustering just 5.4 Steals (9th in SEC), 4.3 Blocks (8th in SEC), and 11.8 Turnovers (9th in SEC). C’mon, guys, those last few figures are Hustle Plays… Oh, and opponents have attempted 22.6 Free-Throws per Game against them (10th in SEC), yet another sign of their ineptitude. Basically, this group is lazy, uninspired, and simply does not communicate on either end of the floor, which has got to have a coach as successful as Calipari aging in dog years. And in the words of Robert De Niro in Bronx Tale, “The Worst Thing in Life is Wasted Talent”… Well, as you can imagine, this team has plenty of talent, which is ultimately what makes them so disappointing. The latest cadre of Freshman to play their trade on the hardwood at Rupp Arena are Kevin Knox (15.0 PTS, 45.0% FG, 34.8% 3FG, 5.6 REB, 1.6 AST, 0.9 STL), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (13.1 PTS, 49.0% FG, 35.3% 3FG, 3.6 REB, 4.6 AST, 1.7 STL), Hamidou Diallo (11.6 PTS, 43.0% FG, 31.0% 3FG, 4.1 REB, 1.5 AST, 0.8 STL), PJ Washington (9.8 PTS, 48.8% FG, 20.0% 3FG, 5.2 REB, 1.9 AST, 1.9 STL, 0.7 BLK), and Quadre Green (9.8 PTS, 44.4% FG, 37.5% 3FG, 2.0 REB, 2.6 AST), who while each possessing a wealth of talent and promise, have rarely been able to coexist together on the court. Just look at their most recent performance, a self-destructive 85-75 loss at Texas A&M, who had been struggling just as much as they had of late. The visiting side took a 30-26 lead into Halftime, before getting run out of the gym over the final Twenty Minutes of play, as the Aggies outscored them 59-44. The onslaught occurred almost immediately as play resumed, with the host draining Eleven of their Frist Sixteen Attempts in the Second Half, including 4-of-4 from downtown to take a commanding 14-Point Lead of which the visitors would not recover from. That tapping that you’re hearing at the moment is Caliapri hitting the panic button…
Despite missing Brown, who suffered an arm injury last week, Auburn didn’t miss a beat in a 78-61 win over Georgia, reaching the AP Top-10 for the first time since 2000.
Meanwhile, don’t look now but Auburn (22-3, 10-2 in SEC) is sitting atop the Southeastern Conference by virtue of a 2-Game Lead on it’s closest competition, and in all probability will shatter the School Record for wins in a season (24). It’s taken him a good bit, but Bruce Pearl has finally turned the Program around, for after going 44-54 in his first three seasons in Auburn, Alabama, the veteran Head Coach has his charges in position to not only land their first Conference Championship the 1998-1999 Season, coinciding with their first NCAA Tournament Appearance in sixteen years. Furthermore, they’ve found themselves in AP Top-10 for the first time since 2000. Granted, while their Non-Conference Schedule is admittedly unimpressive, they’ve done nothing but handle their business in League Play. Establishing their reign early on, the Tigers bested their only ranked opposition, then-No. 23 Tennessee (94-84) followed by No. 22 Arkansas (88-77) in succession, in route to getting off to blistering 9-1 start in the SEC. However, these kids would eventually hit a bump in the road in the form of Texas A&M last week, in which they fell behind by a large margin early, before briefly retaking the lead late, and ultimately losing it for good in the 81-80 upset. Fortunately, they were able to take advantage of all the chaos in the world of College Basketball over the past weekend, and returned to form in a 78-61 drubbing of Georgia on the road. The visiting side stormed into Stegeman Coliseum, owning a 40-31 lead at Intermission, before putting together an equally impressive Second Half, which concluded with Auburn having shot a stellar 50.9% from the floor, including 11-of-25 from beyond the arc (44.0%). The tandem of Jared Harper (13.3 PTS, 38.9% FG, 41.3% 3FG, 2.2 REB, 6.0 AST, 1.2 STL) and Mustapha Heron (16.3 PTS, 46.7% FG, 33.7% 3FG, 5.4 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.3 STL) accounted for Forty-Three Points on 16-of-27 shooting (59.3%), including 6-of-11 from Three (54.5%), while the former filled up the Stat Sheet with Three Rebounds, Seven Assists, and a pair of Steals. Much like how he came to prominence in his previous tenure at Tennessee, Pearl’s latest charges are an explosive offensive group, and by far and away the best in the SEC in this regard. Auburn leads the conference in Scoring (84.1), Three-Pointers (10.5), Three-Point Attempts (25.8), and Three-Point Percentage (40.6%), while also pacing their brethren in Free-Throws Made (19.1). The Rotation itself goes 9-Deep, with four different players averaging in double-figures, led by Bryce Brown (16.6 PTS, 42.6% FG, 41.5% 3FG, 2.3 REB, 1.9 AST, 1.0 STL), who sat out the affair with the Bulldogs after suffering an arm injury in the First Half of the meeting with the Aggies. The status of the SEC’s Fifth-Leading Scorer is currently up in the air at the moment, with Pearl possibly leaning towards making sure he’s completely recovered with the Postseason right around the corner, a notion made all the more easy given the team’s solid depth. Then again, you need quite a bit of that when you look to push the tempo as frequently as the Tigers do, which is something that’s made all the more possible by their persistent harassment of their opponents; no team in the SEC forces more Turnovers, including more Steals than these guys, who have managed to take the basketball away 15.5 Times per Game, affording them a wealth of opportunity in transition. Given the mistake-prone ways of the Wildcats, expect the action in tonight’s meeting to be extremely fast and furious, as Auburn looks to make a statement in their only Regular Season encounter with Kentucky, a team that they’re a miserable 1-8 against since the aforementioned Calipari arrived back in 2009. However, Pearl has had as much success as any who have coached against them, going 5-11 between his recent stay in Auburn and his previous one in Knoxville.