Kentucky did not pass the way John Calipari wanted and low assists verified that

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Sahvir Wheeler had nine of Kentucky's 12 assists Wednesday. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Kentucky scored 83 points against Missouri — the type of offense coach John Calipari said his team needed to have to win consistently. However, the Cats had only 12 assists on 28 made field goals and nine of those assists came from point guard Sahvir Wheeler.

“We held the ball again. We had guys that walked, which means you’re supposed to catch it, pass it, drive it if you have it, but you’re not messing with the ball. You’re not ripping it to your hip and looking like ‘I’m going to make the play,'” coach John Calipari said.

“If you heard me, if you were anywhere near the floor, I kept saying, ‘Swing the ball.’ Everybody that caught it was trying to make a play. You’re not going to get assists when you play that way. Not going to get in the lane where they collapse, and you throw it out and a guy makes a shot.”

It’s also harder to get assists when a team misses 37 of 65 shots like UK did, including 12 of 17 3-pointers.

“Those are about five or six assists that you would get, and then we would be at 18, 19 (assists) which is pretty good for us. Just didn’t make shots,” Calipari said.

Wheeler came into the game averaging 7.7 assists per game, the nation’s second-best total. He now has six or more assists in 10 games and seventh game with at least eight assists. Maybe more impressively, he added 11 points — his seventh double-figure scoring game of the year.

Wheeler continues to be able to get inside to score or feed open teammates despite being only 5-8.

“You got to bring the big guy out if you’re going to give him opportunities to drive,” Calipari said. “So if you’re watching what we’re doing, either in transition, the big guy is not in the lane yet, or in half-court offense we’ve done things to bring the big away from the basket, and he takes advantage.”

2 Responses

  1. Mizzou plays very physical and sometimes that encourages more one on one action. I know Sahvir had 9 assists, but he could have had 15 if he had not been looking for his shot first.

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