Kentucky basketball: 3 keys vs Mississippi St, prediction, game info

1. Green needs a bounce back game

It is very apparent that the Kentucky basketball team lacks leadership. It is time for at least one member of this team to step up and be ‘the guy’. I believe that guy must be Quade Green.

Green returned last Saturday against Florida after missing the previous three games with a back injury. Green came off the bench, played only 17 minutes and shot poorly from the field. Quade was 1-for-8 and 0-for-4 from behind the arc. Saturday was, by far, his worst performance of the season.

Green, like all the other Cats this season, has been wildly inconsistent. Against the Gators, Green had only 2 points. But earlier in the season, against Virginia Tech, Louisville and Tennessee, Green shot better than 40% from the downtown and scored in double figures in all three games.

I think all of Big Blue Nation has been searching for this year’s star. At times throughout the season it appeared to be Kevin Knox. Then Hamidou Diallo looked to grab the reigns. Even PJ Washington had a two-game stretch where he looked like ‘the guy’. All those players have struggled to maintain a high-level of play consistently. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the closest thing to Kentucky’s star player this season, but even SGA has struggled lately.

I look for Quade Green, who Calipari has called the most vocal player on the floor, to have a big game against Mississippi State. It’ll be interesting to see if Green regains the starting role from Gilgeous-Alexander, but regardless he will play increased minutes against the Bulldogs. Green is UK’s best outside shooter, ball-handler and the player the Cats can count on at the foul line late in games. The Kentucky basketball team needs a leader to emerge on Tuesday night and that leader will be Green.