Kentucky basketball’s win over Missouri showed a nit to pick with these Wildcats

Taking time away from the golf course or tending to his tomatoes out there in Oregon, Rich Brooks flipped on the television for some college basketball action Tuesday night and made an observation.

“Congrats to coach Cal and BBN on the win over Missouri,” posted Brooks on X. “Need to work on their defense moving forward.”

The now retired former Kentucky football coach has a point.

One of the few flies in the sweet ointment of the Cats’ 12-2 overall and 2-0 SEC start is a lingering question about whether John Calipari’s young club is playing the type of defense that gets a team to the Final Four.

Make no mistake, the Cats are an offensive powerhouse. They can put the ball in the basket. As local stats historian Corey Price points out, Kentucky has scored at least 81 points in 13 of its first 14 games for the first time since the 1993-94 season, back when Rick Pitino was pacing the UK sideline.

In fact, Kentucky is averaging 90.7 points per game, second nationally to Arizona’s 92.6. National stats guru Ken Pomeroy ranks UK ninth in adjusted offensive efficiency at 1.191 points per possession. The Cats averaged 1.197 in the win over Mizzou, the 13th time in 14 games they have topped the 1.0 mark.

Yet here’s the rub: Pomeroy ranks UK 44th in adjusted defensive efficiency at 0.947 points per possession. Missouri’s PPP average was 1.007, the ninth time this season the Cats have allowed their opponent to hit or top the 1.0 mark.

Of the last 20 teams to make the Final Four, only four were ranked worse than 36th in adjusted defensive efficiency by Pomeroy. The four by name: Miami 99th last season, Duke 49th in 2022, UCLA 46th in 2021 and Kansas 47th in 2018. Not one of those four made it to the championship game.

Meanwhile, Kentucky’s first two SEC games have been Jekyll and Hyde affairs defensively. Rough starts with strong finishes.

Last Saturday in Gainesville, UK watched the Gators make 8 of 20 3-point shots on the way to a 45-37 halftime lead. Second half, however, Florida shot 40 percent and was just 1-of-11 from 3-point land. Kentucky rallied for the 87-85 win.

Similar story Tuesday. Kentucky led Missouri 47-42 at the break despite the fact the Tigers shot 54.8 percent from the floor and made 6 of its 13 3-point attempts. Second half, the Tigers shot just 30 percent and went 2-of-15 from beyond the arc. Kentucky won by 13.

“We kept pushing the pace. That’s the way we play, we’re a fast team,” said UK guard D.J. Wagner afterward. “A lot of times teams get tired. So I feel like maybe they got a little tired.”

In fact, Missouri went from the 10:19 mark of the second half to the 40-second mark without making a field goal. “Our guys fought but in that one stretch we couldn’t make baskets,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said.

“Defensively again, first half shaky,” said UK’s John Calipari. “Give (Missouri) credit for how they played. And then the second half, we played better or they just missed shots, I don’t know.”

Those second-half numbers show the potential is there for Kentucky to be stickier on the defensive end. Aaron Bradshaw, the 7-foot freshman, is still finding his way on defense. Ugonna Onyenso has blocked nine shots in his 51 minutes on the floor, but is averaging just 10.2 minutes per game. Not having Adou Thiero for the last three games hasn’t helped.

“(His) back was bothering him and this course of action,” Calipari said Tuesday of Thiero’s status. “Hopefully he is back soon.”

To be fair, to this point the Cats have been able to outscore foes. In doing so, this may be Calipari’s most connected and entertaining team since his arrival on campus. Said Gates, “I see some great one-on-one players who can make shots.”

One more thing: Considering UK’s rampant youth, this team should only get better in all areas. That includes defense.

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