Kentucky put the defensive pressure on Purdue in Friday's win. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Having an exhibition game between two top 10 teams in late October is what Kentucky coach Mark Pope called a “data collection” opportunity.
SEC Network analyst Jimmy Dykes, a former UK assistant coach, put it a different way.
“You learn more about your team in two hours tonight than you have in the last four months,” Dykes said as he was watching UK beat preseason No. 1 Purdue 78-65 in front of an inspired Rupp Arena crowd. “All this does is fuel confidence for Mark Pope and his team.”
Purdue has an experienced team with players who have started in the Final Four. The Boilermakers have one of the nation’s leading coaches in Matt Painter. However, Dykes said Painter told him that he wanted his team “challenged, knocked down and exposed” by Kentucky and that’s exactly what he got.
Purdue shot only 39 percent from the field and 18 percent (3-for-17) from 3. Point guard Braden Smith, the preseason favorite to be national player of the year, was held to 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting. Kentucky countered with 49 percent overall shooting and 31 percent (9-for-29) from 3. Maybe the most impressive number for Pope’s team, though, was out-rebounding Purdue 42-30.
“The length of Kentucky bothered Purdue on the perimeter and at the rim. It bothered them in all areas,” Dykes said. “Otega Oweh at 6-foot-4 is the smallest guy on the court.”
Former UK All-American Jack Givens said Kentucky’s length obviously bothered the smaller Smith.
“They had 6-5, 6-6, 6-7 guarding him the entire game. We were able to stay in front of him. Kentucky kept guys on him that were quick enough that he could not really get a step on anybody,” Givens said.
Remember it was often defense, not offense, that created problems for Kentucky last season. That’s why Pope was happy to add transfers Mo Dioubate of Alabama and Denzel Aberdeen of Florida, two physical defenders with tons of experience and it showed against Purdue. And Kentucky did this with Arizona State sophomore transfer center Jayden Quaintance, one of the nation’s best defenders, out with a knee injury.
“I see so much promise for Kentucky on the defensive end. They have upgraded because of Dioubate, Aberdeen and Quaintance. They can make plays they would not or could not make last year,” Dykes said.
He’s right and it was even more surprising what Otega Oweh, UK’s leading scorer last season, said after the game about UK’s defense.
“That is our identity. That is something we hang our hat on. We work on it every day. We have a lot of guys with length and are anxious to stop the top teams,” Oweh said. “We wanted to protect our home court. This game is just a start. We are excited to be here and Rupp brought crazy energy. We just want to build on that.”
7 Responses
I was pleasantly surprised by the defensive efficiency this early in the season.
It's apparent that Pope made defense the priority this Summer and Fall. They could give 100% effort on defense and not worry about getting tired or even fouling out. Purdue felt like Custer at the Little Bighorn…the Cats just kept coming and coming…and that was a Wildcat team at 75% full strength.
The defensive efficiency against the consensus #1 preseason team was outstanding.
Thanks for confirming this. I should have read this article first
If the guy guarding you can stay in front of you, it is hard to beat him. Purdue looked slow at several positions and I think they will need to play a little more deliberate style and run a lot of plays to get their shooters open. They will be good, but I don't see them winning it all.
UK looked fast and athletic at all positions. I also like that they can come at you in waves.
Our defense might be the best defense in all college basketball this year. St Johns will also have great defense but I think we might have the best. The craziest thing about all of this is that the best defensive presence in college basketball still isn't recovered from his ACL injury. Next week it will be 8 months removed from his surgery. So he should be on soft running and soft cutting at least by now. When JQ makes his debut we will be even better from playing without him. He will make this team almost unbeatable. Nobody will be able to score inside. Then think about our guards. Aberdeen Lowe Oweh and Chandler all have incredible defense. So it's going to be hard to score on us down low and up top.
I'm so glad it's finally basketball season. Because we are a BASKETBALL SCHOOL!