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Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Front Court Collapse without Tyler Ulis

By Shelby Caudill

Feb 23, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Tyler Ulis (3) listens to head coach John Calipari during the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Alabama 78-53. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sport
Feb 23, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Tyler Ulis (3) listens to head coach John Calipari during the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Alabama 78-53. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sport /
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There is absolutely no denying that the backcourt featuring Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray is one of the strongest in the country. For being such little guys, they can carry the rest of the team on their back for most of the 40 minutes. However, there is only so much two people can do to try to pull out a win against a fiery team, especially when one has a well-deserved off game.

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The Vanderbilt Commodores wanted to beat the Kentucky Wildcats, plain and simple. Most of us knew ahead of time that the Commodores had the talent to put some pressure on the Wildcats and knew that their head coach, Kevin Stallings, is one of the best in the SEC at coaching against the Wildcats. However, with the hot streak the Wildcats had been on, coming into the game it felt like they had it in the bag.

That wasn’t the case at all. The big men for the Kentucky Wildcats didn’t show up. They may as well have stayed in Lexington. Look at these mind-boggling statistics:

  • Alex Poythress saw 16 minutes on the court. Didn’t take a single shot, not even a free throw. In those 16 minutes, Poythress did grab three rebounds and one block, but he also somehow picked up five personal fouls…like what?
  • Marcus Lee saw 30 minutes on the court. He took two shots. TWO SHOTS. He did make them both, but went 5-9 from the line. He also grabbed six rebounds, three blocks and four fouls.
  • Skal Labissiere took one shot in eight minutes. He grabbed a single rebound and a single block…but he picked up four fouls in that short amount of time.
  • Isaac Humphries saw 14 minutes, missed the one shot he took and grabbed one rebound.

That is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious for the front court of the Wildcats.

Tyler Ulis had his second struggling game of the season, he’s in somewhat of a shooting slump, but he still did what he could to make an impact on the game. Ulis was on the court for 39 minutes, shot 5-20, which is terrible for him, but he never gave up. He missed all seven three point shots he took and sank 2-4 from the line. He did pick up six assists and three rebounds, but it wasn’t his best game. This team just cannot win when Ulis has a rough game, take the Ohio State game for example. Jamal Murray will do whatever he can to try to pull them to a victory when Ulis struggles, or when any struggles for that matter. But without Ulis, this team just falls apart. Murray can’t do it on his own. Against the Commodores, Murray had a game-high 33 points, a team-high 9 rebounds and one assist. He scored more than half of the teams total points (62). But the front court needs Ulis for some reason, something they’re going to have to work on if they want to make a run in the SEC and NCAA Tournament.

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