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Kentucky Wildcats Look to Bounce Back in Tonight’s Matchup With LSU

By Frank Spencer

Nov 20, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Malik Monk (5) forward Edrice Bam Adebayo (3) guard De
Nov 20, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Malik Monk (5) forward Edrice Bam Adebayo (3) guard De /
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John Calipari and the young Kentucky Wildcats are facing a bit of a rough patch. Tonight’s game against a struggling LSU team may help get the Cats on the right track

Kentucky Basketball comes into this game having lost three of their last four. Last week’s embarrassing loss at Florida has some Cats fans on the defensive.

The Matchup

The Tigers are entering Rupp Arena garnishing a nine game losing streak and have failed to record a win in conference play. Tonight’s matchup against a Kentucky team looking to bounce back could get ugly. At least it’s supposed to be. The Tigers are led in scoring by Sophomore Antonio Blakeney. With an average of 15.6 PPG, the 6’4” guard is the leader of the LSU offense. Cats fans remember Blakeney last season as he was the one-two punch alongside eventual top NBA Draft pick, Ben Simmons. LSU and Simmons, defeated Kentucky on January 5, 2016, 85-67. Kentucky Returned the favor in Rupp Arena in the season finale before going on to win the SEC Tournament Championship.

Kentucky has been led in scoring by Freshman two-guard, Malik Monk at nearly 22 PPG. Monk’s backcourt counterparts De’Aaron Fox (16 PPG) and Isaiah Briscoe (14 PPG) look to carry the cats when it comes to scoring. Freshman big man, Bam Adebayo has established a presence in the paint but lately, the ball hasn’t been finding his hands enough. Look for that to change tonight.

Related Story: Young Cats Face Adversity

Cats Need to Address Re-occurring Issues in Tonight’s Matchup

Kentucky has dropped three of their last four games. Fans are not happy to say the least. There are even some people who are throwing the “Fire Calipari” slogan around social media. I, for one, am not one of those people. There is an expectation at Kentucky that losing is not an option. With tonight’s opportunity, this young Cats team needs to address the issues that have gotten them beat.

The main issue? The lack of intensity and urgency throughout the game is what someone from the outside looking in would consider to be the common denominator in recent losses. Big Blue Nation expects to see a few things tonight against a struggling LSU Tiger team. The key to this matchup, is getting back on track in terms of rebounding, shot selection, turnover problems and bench contributions.

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