Saturday night Kentucky and UCONN will do battle for the second time this season, only this time there's a lot more on the line than a Maui invitational championship. The winner will get a spot in the National Championship game on Monday night against the winner of the VCU/Butler game.
UCONN handed Kentucky their worst loss of the season 84-67 in Maui back in November, but you can be certain these are not the same teams that played then as both teams have improved dramatically. In the game in Maui, Kentucky had it's struggles from all positions. Josh Harrellson wasn't the player he is now, and his stat line from that game is jaw dropping to say the least. In that game Harrellson didn't score a point and only attempted 1 field goal and grabbed 6 boards in 25 minutes of action. Hard to believe considering the way he has been playing the last part of the season. Harrellson will have to have a really good game Saturday, and he must crash the boards on every possession all while staying out of foul trouble. If he gets into foul trouble early that will make things difficult for the Cats down low.
Another player that had difficulty in the last meeting with UCONN was Brandon Knight. Knight, while only in his 5th career college game had a lot to prove early on with all the expectations left over from John Wall. I think the pressure got to Knight early this season, and it's understandable why it would. John Wall left some big shoes to fill and Knight has filled them and then some. In Maui, Knight had 6 points shooting 3-15 from the field, 0-8 from three, 5 assists and 5 turnovers. Again, hard to believe that was the same player we have seen in the NCAA tournament so far. Knight will need to avoid a repeat of Maui, and pick up where he left off against North Carolina for Kentucky to advance to the championship game Monday night.
Kentucky will need for Darius Miller and Terrence Jones to show up big against the Huskies, UCONN cannot match up with Jones or Miller that well and them putting up big numbers will be key. If they get the production that they should out of these two, Kentucky should have a shot to pull out the victory. But if both disappear for long stretches of the game Saturday things will get ugly.
DeAndre Liggins said earlier in the season that he wanted another chance to guard Kemba Walker, and Saturday he gets that chance. There is no way to shut Walker down he's too good of a player, so you just have to hope to contain him. On the year he is averaging 23.9 ppg and 4.5 assists per contest. So even if you are able to stop his scoring, his is exceptional at getting others involved on offense. Liggins will have to play smart defense on Walker, because it has been evident throughout this tournament that he can draw a lot of fouls, and sending him the the line where he shoots it almost 82% is suicide. Not to mention we can't afford to lose Liggins to the bench with foul trouble, so he has to use his head and just try to limit Walkers touches.
UCONN's Jeremy Lamb has evolved into another scoring option for the Huskies this season, and will be difficult to guard. He averages 11.1 ppg and 4.3 rebounds, not to mention he is their best 3 point shooter at 37% on the year. So that will be another guy to keep an eye on, and hopefully try to hold in check.
Alex Oriakhi is the best rebounder on the Huskies team at 8.6 boards per contest and is capable of putting up a double doulbe if left unguarded. That's another battle down low that could be interesting to watch as the game goes along. Because not only can he rebound the ball well, he can score as well. Sure he only averages 9.6 ppg, but he can get on a roll and hurt you inside on any given night.
UCONN has a deep bench playing 10 guys at any given time. Usually they'll play about 7 guys like Kentucky, but they do have the luxury of going deeper in their bench to help give guys a break, something Kentucky can not do. So that could be something to keep an eye on Saturday.
If kentucky can just come out and play the way they have been so far in the postseason, they should be fine. However, if they come out flat it could be a long night but a short weekend in Houston.
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