Kentucky basketball: Top 3 players who got the Cats to the Sweet 16

3. Wenyen Gabriel

I wrestled with this one for a long time. Gilgeous-Alexander and Diallo were easy choices, but the third most productive player was a toss up between Kevin Knox, Wenyen Gabriel and PJ Washington. There wasn’t a bad selection, as all three have performed well thus far in the tournament, but Gabriel gets the nod.

The statistics are virtually even for all three players. Knox played a great game against Davdison, but kind of disappeared against Buffalo. Wenyen did the exact opposite. He under-performed against Davidson, but had a spectacular performance against Buffalo. PJ played 2 solid games, not too high, not too low.

Gabriel, however, did something in both games that Knox and Washington failed to do. He protected the basketball. Gabriel had zero turnovers in both games. Knox and Washington combined for 11 of Kentucky’s 23 turnovers in the first 2 games of the tournament. Turnovers will be key going forward.

The Cats have been without Jarred Vanderbilt for the past 5 games, and Wenyen has been there to fill his teammates shoes. Vanderbilt is Kentucky’s best rebounder, and Gabriel stepped up against Buffalo with 12 rebounds. Gabriel, Washington and Sacha Killeya-Jones have filled in admirably on the boards in Vanderbilt’s absence.

Gabriel also knocked down 3 three-pointers against Buffalo, something the entire Kentucky basketball team failed to do against Davidson. Having Gabriel on the floor, especially with Knox and Quade Green, allows UK to spread the floor and open up the driving lanes for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gabriel is a dangerous weapon in Kentucky’s loaded arsenal.