Entering the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky’s defensive KenPom ranking is not excellent.
The defense of Kentucky can cause them to lose the NCAA Tournament early.
The problems with this Kentucky basketball team are well known, and they are all related to their defense.
The Wildcats were losing easy drives to the basket, open three-pointers, and defensive rebounds against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament.
The Aggies were 8–16 in the first half despite Texas A&M making a lot of threes. The Aggies slowed the game down to their own pace in the second half and made several drives to the rim, which the Wildcats were unable to stop.
Following their defeat at Texas A&M, Kentucky’s defensive KenPom ranking is 108th. The Wildcats’ offensive is ranked sixth overall and they rank 19th overall in the KenPom rankings, but their defense is the obvious weakness.
It’s not a given that shots will fall, and in those situations you’ll need strong defense to stay in the game. You will lag behind and find it difficult to catch up in the game if you are unable to make regular stops when the shots aren’t falling.
The Wildcats were behind for what seemed like the whole basketball game when this happened versus Texas A&M.
The analytics don’t point to Kentucky’s defensive KenPom ranking being where it is, which will prevent the Wildcats from going far in the NCAA Tournament.
This Kentucky squad must make a decision about their defensive strategy because failing to do so would result in the waste of a superb attack with some amazing scorers.
