Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Time to worry about West Virginia?

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Now that the NCAA Tournament field has been pared to the Sweet 16, the popular upset pick is going to be the West Virginia Mountaineers over the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite the fact that Kentucky won both of their games by double digits over the weekend, the pundits think that Kentucky is vulnerable and that WVU coach Bob Huggins is the man to end Kentucky’s perfect dream. Is it a valid concern?

Much of the Kentucky Wildcats fans chagrin over West Virginia is the fact that Huggins has a 8-2 mark against John Calipari. Many of those games however took place when West Virginia was the superior team talent wise and John Calipari was building his teams at UMass and Memphis. But the loss that stands out is the 2010 Elite Eight when West Virginia sent Kentucky packing. Kentucky got their revenge the next year in the NCAA in Tampa, but 2010 still resonates with the BBN.

That was then, and this is now. Joe Lunardi broke down all of the tournament teams and here is how he said to beat the Mountaineers.

"How you beat them: Having good ballhandling big men is a good start. Teams that have a 4- or 5-man who can see over the press and take some stress off its guards will have an easier time dealing with West Virginia’s press. The open shots are there if the turnovers are avoided (West Virginia’s field goal percentage defense is average at best) and as well as the Mountaineers’ offensive rebound, they are poor on the defensive glass."

Just going from that, you can see that Kentucky’s current roster would be a strength in that aspect. West Virginia’s defense is a concern, but this is not the first time this year Kentucky has faced a similar opponent. Mike DeCourcy elaborates.

"It is not as though Kentucky never has played a team that relies upon fullcourt pressure defense. The Wildcats twice handled Arkansas, including in the SEC Tournament title game, by a combined 32 points. But the Arkansas pressure is based primarily on speed and length. The Mountaineers don’t care how many times they bump you, only how many times the officials call that a foul. Against Maryland the answer was not a lot.“I guess it’s kind of new to you all, but the way we scrap, we get out there and we practice the same way,” said forward Devin Williams, who led West Virginia against the Terps with 16 points. “Pretty much we’re just doing what we do, and that’s playing our hearts out. We’ve just got to get back, prepare, focus, and it’s another team. They put their drawers on the same way we do.”Kentucky is one team that figures not to be worn out physically by the Mountaineers. The nine-man rotation Calipari has employed since the injury that ended forward Alex Poythress’ season keeps the Wildcats fresh and mostly free from foul trouble. But the Wildcats will have to think differently about the game than they usually do, when their focus primarily is on playing extraordinary halfcourt defense and trying to use their size and athleticism on offense to overwhelm smaller, less gifted opponents."

Granted, this is going to be a physical game, but Kentucky Wildcats fans can take solace in the fact that no physical team has beaten Kentucky and West Virginia is a team with flaws. They hit just 31.7% of their 3-pointers and for a “good” defensive team, allow opponents to hit 36.7% of theirs. Both numbers place them around 275th in the nation. And this Mountaineer team is the worst in the nation at fouling the other team and sending them to the line. While the Mountaineers have depth, it is save to say that Kentucky’s depth is significantly better than the Mountaineers at virtually every level.

Make no mistake. This game will be physical and a war, but in the end, Kentucky should end up the victor and the experts will be left scrambling to come up with a theory on how to beat Kentucky. Just as they have done 36 times already.

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