Coming into Tuesday night, Kentucky's bench simply had not been good. And the numbers completely confirmed what the eye test was already telling us.
Just take a look at the cumulative plus/minus (+/-) of the roster in SEC play before the South Carolina trip. Notice exactly where the bench players land:
- Denzel Aberdeen: +68
- Malachi Moreno: +68
- Andrija Jelavic: +29
- Otega Oweh: +23
- Collin Chandler: +19
- Mouhamed Dioubate: -12
- Trent Noah: -33
- Jasper Johnson: -44
- Brandon Garrison: -57
A massive turnaround happened in Columbia
But on Tuesday? The Cats completely flipped their SEC script.
Against South Carolina, starting forward Andrija Jelavic (-8) was the only Kentucky player to finish in the negative. The reserves, who have been struggling to stay above water for weeks, absolutely dominated their minutes on the floor.
Look at the plus/minus production from the bench guys against the Gamecocks:
- Mouhamed Dioubate: +16
- Trent Noah: +7
- Brandon Garrison: +6
- Jasper Johnson: +2
That kind of performance matters. Especially for a team that Mark Pope admits gets way too "fatigued" down the stretch of close games. You don't necessarily need these guys to score 15 points a night. But you absolutely have to have productive, positive minutes from the guys you bring in to spell your starters.
I truly think this team has everything they need if they just buy into the team concept. And so does Mo Dioubate. After the road win last night, Dioubate spoke with Goose Givens on the postgame radio broadcast.
"We know what we are capable of doing," Dioubate said. "This team has a lot of talent."
He isn't wrong. This roster has a massive amount of talent. They have a national champion on the roster, an SEC Preseason Player of the Year, and a couple of top-30 freshmen.
The question isn't talent. It’s whether or not this team can actually play together.
If they can? This up-and-down season might just end with a magical March run.