A basketball season is a series of tests. Early tests. Middle tests. Late tests. Hard tests. Easy tests. A team won’t pass every test. Bobby Knight’s Indiana was the last to ace them all way back in 1975-76. Still, it must pass more than it fails. To be elite, many more.
Wednesday night at Rupp Arena when Vanderbilt comes to town for the regular season home finale, this Kentucky basketball team faces its next test. An important test.
The test: After playing arguably their best game of the season, can the Wildcats avoid a letdown?
John Calipari’s Cats were brilliant in trouncing Auburn 86-54 last Saturday. They shot 56.1 percent from the floor while holding the Tigers to 33.9 percent. They outrebounded Bruce Pearl’s club 41-23. After falling behind 25-24 with 5:25 left in the first half, the Cats kicked into overdrive to outscore Auburn 62-29 for their fourth straight victory.
Saturday, Kentucky was the Kentucky many thought Kentucky would be in the preseason. The team voted No. 4 in the AP preseason rankings. The team SEC media picked to win the conference championship. The team plenty of Basketball Bennies placed at or near the top of their NCAA Tournament preseason projections.
The Cats have climbed to No. 20 in the NCAA NET rankings. (Vandy is 86th.) UK ranks 22nd in Ken Pomeroy’s analytical assessment. Its supposedly “archaic” offense ranks 13th in adjusted efficiency. Once on the wrong side of the bubble, UK’s bracket projections have reached as high as a No. 6 seed.
Can the Cats keep it up? That’s the trick. Now is the time, after all. It’s March. Officially. The SEC Tournament begins next week in Nashville. Selection Sunday is March 12. March Madness commences shortly thereafter. Judging by Saturday’s performance, Kentucky is not the same team it was in previous months.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is not the Vanderbilt that UK defeated 69-53 in Nashville on Jan. 24. The Commodores were without Liam Robbins that night. A bone bruise and foot sprain kept the 7-foot center on the bench. With little resistance, UK’s Oscar Tshiebwe score 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Jacob Toppin went for 12 and 10. UK shot 56.4 percent from the floor. The Commodores shot 32.7 percent.
Robbins returned a week later for Vanderbilt’s 101-44 blowout loss at Alabama. Since then, Vandy has won six of seven games. It beat Tennessee 66-65 in Nashville. It beat visiting Auburn 67-65 on a last-second layup. It completed a season sweep of Florida, following up on an 88-80 win in Gainesville on Feb. 11 with an 88-72 victory over the Gators last Saturday in Music City to run its league record to 9-7.
Robbins is the reason. He scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the first win over Florida, 18 and nine in the second. He scored 24 points at South Carolina, 24 points (with 12 rebounds) against Auburn, 23 points (with 11 rebounds) in Vandy’s stumble at LSU before just missing another double-double Saturday.
Robbins is also a rim-protector. He blocked nine shots in the loss at LSU, five in Saturday’s win over Florida. He leads the SEC at 3.3 blocked shots per game. He’s also 19-of-52 from three-point range for 36.5 percent. Since his return, a healthy Robbins is 14-of-24 from beyond the arc.
Matchup to watch: Tshiebwe has been known to struggle against length. UK’s 6-9 forward/center made just two of 14 shots in his first matchup with Colin Castleton, Florida’s 7-footer. A broken right hand kept Castleton out of last week’s rematch. Tshiebwe scored 25 points in UK’s 82-74 win. He was 12-of-13 from the floor. Robbins offers a big man battle.
Vanderbilt has lost 14 straight to the Cats. The Commodores haven’t won in Rupp since 2007 when Kevin Stallings beat Tubby Smith 72-67. Jerry Stackhouse is 0-8 vs Calipari. After going 39-54 his first three seasons at Vandy, however, Stackhouse has his best team. Playing its best basketball.
That’s what makes Wednesday night intriguing. Two teams on the uptick. Can Vanderbilt pull the upset? Or can Kentucky keep it in overdrive?
