Kentucky basketball: Game preview, 3 keys vs Arkansas
By Drew Koch
2. Control the interior
It’s quite simple, go inside. This Kentucky basketball team is bigger than almost every team they’re going to play. On Saturday against Alabama, they dominated the interior. The Wildcats were plus-8 in the paint against the Crimson Tide and had 20 offensive rebounds. Alabama had only 27 rebounds as a team during the game.
Kentucky dominated the boards. With their size, they should be able to do that against most teams. Vanderbilt had 5 offensive rebounds and 9 total. Kevin Knox had 5 total rebounds and 3 on the offensive end. Washington, Green, Nick Richards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all had 2 offensive boards a piece.
The Wildcats rank 3rd in the SEC in total rebounding, and I firmly believe, had Vanderbilt been healthy all season they’d be tops in the conference. Vanderbilt attacks the offensive glass. Rebounding is an effort play, and Jarred gives maximum effort crashing the glass.
Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford is no slouch. He’s scored in double figures the last 5 games and had a double-double against the Florida Gators. The Wildcats need to go at Gafford early and often and try to get him in foul trouble. Gafford is “the guy” inside for Arkansas. If the Cats take him away, they’ll make the Razorbacks one-dimensional.