Kentucky basketball: 3 keys vs South Carolina, prediction, TV/ radio/ live stream
By Drew Koch
2. Can Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continue his high-level of play?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been relied upon heavily the past few games. Quade Green has been sidelined with a back injury and SGA has played back-to-back games logging 39 minutes of playing time.
Gilgeous-Alexander has started the past two games for the injured Green and the freshman from Canada has made the most of his opportunities. SGA averaged 19 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in UK’s last two games.
A dent in Gilgeous-Alexander’s armor has been his poor free throw shooting. With Green out, SGA has been relied upon in late-game situations to knock down critical shots from the charity stripe. Gilgeous-Alexander, who is 82.4% from the line on the season, has shot only 68.8% in the past two games. Is this a sign of fatigue?
It would be nice to see Green back in the lineup for Kentucky on Tuesday night. After all, Green is one of the Cats’ best outside shooters and is better than 75% at the foul line. Having Quade on the floor give the Kentucky basketball team another ball handler, better perimeter shooting and would afford Gilgeous-Alexander more opportunity to rest during the game.
SGA has been fantastic lately, but one wonders if he can keep up his current pace. Kevin Knox started off the season on fire and has been marred in a bit of slump. Hamidou Diallo has shown flashes, but lately has been inconsistent. Will the same fate befall Gilgeous-Alexander, or will the freshman guard be up to the task of maintaining his stellar play?