Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Four Days in February

The lights were not even turned off in the KFC Yum! Center on December 27th, and the talk of a perfect season for the Kentucky Wildcats Basketball team really heated up.  With the tough out of conference schedule out-of-the-way, and the  Kentucky Wildcats with an unblemished record, the common consensus was that Kentucky would breeze through a “weak” SEC and head into the NCAA Tournament with a perfect record.  Kentucky still has not lost a game, but any hopes of a perfect SEC record will hinge upon the next four days in February.

Keep in mind that both LSU and Florida have suffered bad losses lately and as I am writing this, Auburn just knocked off the Tigers IN BATON ROGUE. But when the Kentucky Wildcats come to town, none of that matters.

2/7/2015 – FLORIDA GATORS

12-10  (5-4)

Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

GATOR’s RPI: 70
BEST WIN: ARKANSAS 57-56

Ignore the record. The Gators were a preseason top ten team and while they are a NIT team at the moment, are still very dangerous. The Gators are one of the few teams that have the depth to play with Kentucky and they also have a good bit of size. Unfortunately, all of that talent has not gelled on the court yet but this is a Gator team that was dominating Kansas on their home court before collapsing.

Billy Donovan has 10 players that average more than 15 minutes a game and to be honest, I am mystified as to why this team is so bad. They desperately miss Scottie Wilbikin more than anything and while there is talent, they do not play well as a team. Chris Walker remains an enigma as he has NBA talent yet averages just 15 minutes a game. I honestly thought the Gators would be much better, but I guess this is proof that while you can put a team together on paper, that does not make a good team on the court.

That said, the crowd will be crazy on Saturday night and this Florida team is a lot better at home than on the road.

2/10/15  LSU TIGERS

16-6  5-4

TIGERS’S RPI:  39
BEST WIN: WEST VIRGINIA 74-73

The Tigers are closing in on a NCAA bid and have a great frontcourt of Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin. Mickey averages a double-double a game and Martin is not far off that pace. The Tigers are 4-2 versus Top 50 teams and are 11-2 at home. That home loss was to Texas A&M, which currently has a RPI of 33 and Auburn, which is impossible to fathom.  Kentucky lost at LSU 87-82 last year, but John Calipari won in his previous two meetings. This may be LSU’s best team in a while though.

The Tigers have four players that average double digits and this is one of the few teams that can match the Kentucky Wildcats on the boards. This is a team that matches up well against Kentucky and the Tigers play great interior defense of their own, blocking 6 shots a game. In addition, Tim Quarterman and Josh Gray do a great job of distributing the ball. This is not a great shooting team and they do tend to turn the ball over a good but if Keith Hornsby can get hot from long-range, the Tigers have a shot at an upset.

That said, both Florida and LSU have a lot of flaws and both teams have horrible losses.  Regardless, it is a different story when the Wildcats come to town.  This will be Kentucky’s toughest four game stretch until tournament time.  It will be interesting to see how prepared they are.