Watch the Tape: Kentucky 91 Vanderbilt 77

That was the most complete 40 minutes we’ve seen this season. The Kentucky Wildcats came out hot and never looked back on their way to a 91-77 win over the #25 Vanderbilt Commodores. It was quite the contrast to the 80-55 beatdown the ‘Cats received in Nashville just one month ago. With the win Kentucky kept hope alive for a coveted double-bye in the SEC Tournament. However, those scenarios will play themselves out over the course of the final week of the regular season. Most importantly the win added another notch to the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament resume bringing them to 6-9 in Quad 1. This team continues to prove that their ceiling is dangerous, but consistency continues to escape them even as the calendar officially flips to March.

Vanderbilt’s dynamic backcourt and their playmaking ability was a primary worry heading into this game. Would Kentucky’s often suspect ballscreen coverage be able to contain them? Instead, it was the Wildcats’ backcourt that picked apart the Commodores defense. Losing #5 Nickel, one of college basketball’s best shooters, was another concern heading into Saturday afternoon’s contest. Instead, it Collin Chandler that caught fire from three-point range finishing 6-8. The physicality of Vanderbilt’s front court and how Kentucky would manage them was up for debate as well. However, the Wildcats more than held their own in the paint while mostly dominating the rebounding effort on both ends of the floor. It was a near reversal of roles from what happened at Memorial Gym on January 27th.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. Aside from possibly the game at Arkansas, Saturday was the best we have seen this team play all season long. It certainly was the most complete 40 minutes of play that we have seen. Denzel Aberdeen hit a three-point shot with 9:53 to go in the first half to make it 29-16. Vanderbilt never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way while the Wildcats led by as many as 22.

Kentucky displayed a season’s best level of poise and patience. Equally impressive was their consistent level of urgency on the defensive end of the floor. We will be breaking down both ends of the floor in this edition of “Watch the Tape.” Additionally, the ‘Cats played through Malachi Moreno as the “hub” of the offense with a great deal of success. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 91-77 victory over the #25 Vanderbilt Commodores.

Patience and Poise Were at a Season-Best Level

Turnover talk dominated the lead up to Kentucky’s game on Saturday. The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating South Carolina on Tuesday. However, they still turned the ball over 15 times in that game. The ‘Cats turned it over 14, 13, and 14 times respectively during their three-game skid. They also turned it over 15 times at Memorial Gym in their 80-55 loss to Vanderbilt earlier in the season. We have seen this team care of the ball though. When Kentucky won eight out of nine games, even with the ugly performance against the Commodores sandwiched in the middle, they turned it over only 9.3 times per game. A step in the right direction was made on Saturday afternoon with 11 turnovers. Patience and poise were a big reason for the improvement.

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Denzel Aberdeen has quietly excelled in his role as Kentucky’s starting point guard. Despite turnover problems for the team as a whole, Aberdeen has 20 assists and just three turnovers in the last five games. He had four assists and no turnovers on Saturday. Earlier in the season this probably would have been an off-balanced, contested runner. However, Aberdeen now plays off of two feet right on the SEC logo and finds one of the hottest shooters in the country for an inside-out three-point shot. There is nothing flashy about this possession, but it is incredibly effective when you execute like this consistently.

Andrija Jelavic displayed some real poise and patience on this possession. It would have been easy for him to think that, given the mismatch, he was supposed to try and score. However, he felt the double-team coming, used a retreat dribble to clear some space, and fired a perfect skip pass to Denzel Aberdeen. Then, we saw more poise and patience from Aberdeen. He froze the Vanderbilt defender with an initial pass fake before delivering the one-more pass to the corner for another Collin Chandler three-point shot.

Players not named Denzel Aberdeen have struggled with taking care of the basketball of late. Collin Chandler turned the ball over five times at Auburn last Saturday. Part of his problem at times stems from being too sped up. However, Chandler played with some impressive pace off of this ballscreen. He got the defender on his hip, allowed Malachi Moreno to roll and get in position for a little “Gortat” screen, and then accelerated to create separation for the left-handed layup.

Improved Urgency Led to Impressive Defensive Performance

There is always room for improvement inside of the film room. That is where you nit-pick, strive for perfection, and have the benefit of slow motion, rewind, and hindsight. However, the metrics would indicate that Kentucky has been pretty solid defensively for a while now. Since the beginning of Southeastern Conference play, a sample size of 16 games, the ‘Cats rank third in defensive efficiency within the league per KenPom. That is while playing against seven of the Top 16 offenses in college basketball. Kentucky is now in the Top 30 nationally of defensive efficiency as well. Saturday, against the Vanderbilt Commodores, was one of their most impressive defensive displays of the season. Urgency played a big factor in some really great stretches of team defense.

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We got to see a little bit of everything on this defensive possession. First, Denzel Aberdeen and Mo Dioubate successfully thwarted a pick-and-roll. Then, Brandon Garrison switched out aggressively on #3 Tanner and sent him backwards at the point of attack. Next, Jasper Johnson successfully walled off #2 Miles from getting a paint touch. Finally, Dioubate pulled down a defensive rebound to end the possession. Garrison’s effort made him the most valuable player of this clip, but all five Wildcats played a role in getting the stop.

It was good to see Otega Oweh consistently remain engaged when guarding away from the ball on Saturday. He would not have been able to jump the passing lane for this steal and runout dunk if he wasn’t doing a good job of staying tight to #5 Nickel. This was Oweh’s second “pick-six” dunk of the game in just over 10 minutes of action.

Often wrong but never in doubt. The execution on this possession certainly isn’t perfect. There are plenty of things you could dissect in the film room to make it all look smoother and more connected. However, Kentucky’s urgency allowed for it to all work out. Collin Chandler, Trent Noah, and Malachi Moreno were able to communicate their way through a three-way switch. Then, Noah showed some real urgency when closing out to #5 Nickel and taking away the initial catch and shoot. Both Noah and Moreno ended up contesting the shot attempt in the corner. Sometimes urgency is enough to get a stop.

Malachi Moreno as the “Hub” of Kentucky’s Offense

Coach Mark Pope could spend the next two decades at Kentucky and never have another center like Amari Williams. He was the perfect “hub” of the Zoom Action offense that the Wildcats relied heavily on to produce a Top 10 offense last season. It would be unfair, and inaccurate, to truly compare Malachi Moreno to Williams. However, the freshman center has shown some real flashes of his ability to serve as the “hub” of the Wildcats’ offense. Moreno finished with five assists on Saturday against Vanderbilt and was excellent as a distributor out of the short role. When the ‘Cats play through Moreno good things tend to happen.

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Kentucky’s front court has been inconsistent, at best, throughout the season. Malachi Moreno has been pretty steady, especially for a starting freshman center in the Southeastern Conference, but it is hard to know what you are going to get from the rest of the group. This clip showcases what their ceiling can look like. The Wildcats’ offense flashes some pretty impressive versatility and skill here with their 7-foot 5-man finding their 6’11” 4-man for a three-point shot at the top of the key. Andrija Jelavic played very well in the opening stretch for the ‘Cats while they jumped out to a 21-14 advantage.

A big reason why Kentucky struggled with Missouri back in early January was their inability to make the Tigers pay from the short roll. The Wildcats still aren’t perfect, but major strides have been made in that department. Look at how comfortable Malachi Moreno is in this clip. He gets the catch on the short roll, takes one dribble, and fires a perfect pass to the opposite wing to his fellow freshman Jasper Johnson for a catch-and-shoot three-point shot. This is beautiful pick-and-roll execution against one of the SEC’s best defenses.

When Malachi Moreno can get a stagnant catch on the short roll he is even more dangerous. He did turn it over once in the second half when he had to dribble, but then when he is on balance his passing ability really shines. Here you see a beautiful skip pass to Collin Chandler who evades the closeout with a one-dribble side step. He is one of the hottest three-point shooters in college basketball right now.

Malachi Moreno was very effective as a screener on Saturday as well. In this clip he does an excellent job of closing the space and following his pass into the ballscreen. Moreno had five assists in the game, several of which were highlighted above, but he deserves another one for this ballscreen. He is directly responsible for getting Denzel Aberdeen this open look.