Andrija Jelavić should be playing more minutes for Kentucky

On paper, Andrija Jelavić‘s numbers from Kentucky’s depressing 67-64 loss to North Carolina won’t pop off the page

The 6-foot-11 sophomore finished his night with a stat line of six points (3-6 FG; 0-3 3PT), four rebounds, one block, and three personal fouls. He was a -7 in the plus/minus category while seeing a season-high 24 minutes on the hardwood. He was on the floor for most of Kentucky’s 10-minute scoring drought in the second half. None of those numbers sound too inspiring, especially with Kentucky now falling to 0-3 against ranked teams this season as a result.

But you won’t be able to convince me that Jelavić didn’t look like he belonged on the hardwood against the Tar Heels. There’s an argument to be made that he was the Wildcats’ best overall player (although Otega Oweh, to his credit, did show up for what felt like the first time all season). His defense on a future NBA player was impressive.

Kam Williams received the start once again at the four in place of the injured Mo Dioubate. Williams was tasked with defending North Carolina’s star freshman, Caleb Wilson, a five-star recruit and projected NBA lottery pick who nearly picked UK before signing with the Tar Heels. Wilson came into the game essentially averaging a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Williams did a solid job of defending Wilson early on, holding him to a 1-3 shooting clip through the first five minutes before picking up a second foul and being sent to the bench.

Enter Andrija Jelavić, who played just 20 combined minutes in Kentucky’s blowout losses to Michigan State and Louisville earlier this season. Jelavić immediately embraced the high-profile matchup with Wilson, forcing the versatile 6-foot-10 forward into difficult shots while not allowing him to be the aggressor. Jelavić stood his ground and pushed Wilson right back.

“I definitely was on the floor more than usual tonight,” Jelavić said postgame. “I knew that it was my chance, and my minutes were going to come sooner than later. I wasn’t really thinking about guarding their best player. I just wanted to go out there and play for (Mark) Pope.”

By the end of the game, Wilson finished with 15 points but shot just 5-19 from the field (the worst mark of the season for a guy shooting 58.8 percent overall coming into Tuesday, with the majority of those misses coming against Jelavić). Jelavić wasn’t credited with the steal, but there was one possession late in the first half where he back-tapped Wilson in the post to force a turnover, which led to a dunk for UK the other way. His lone block was against Wilson with 80 seconds left in the game and the ‘Cats up one.

“I think Jelavić gave us some good minutes, I was proud of him,” Pope said. “I think he gave us some solid minutes.”

Jelavić probably needs even more of those minutes moving forward, too. His outside shot wasn’t falling against UNC, but he hit all three of his two-pointers in the post — and they weren’t easy ones, either. Two of them came against Wilson. He was far more perfect, but Kentucky’s problems will not be fixed by keeping Jelavić on the bench.