Spent a lot of today digging through stats to find common factors between the six teams that have defeated Kentucky this year. Common factors are hard to find. Alabama's an elite offense, some of the teams play at a very slow tempo, most of the teams are pretty balanced and solid on both ends of the court.
One thing that stands out: Assists allowed. We have seen that when Kentucky doesn't have many assists, they tend to lose. They have a bunch when they win.
Assists allowed, NCAA rankings:
Clemson - 15th
Georgia - 37th
Ohio State - 40th
Alabama - 50th
Arkansas - 57th
Vanderbilt - 74th
It might not seem like a big deal that all six teams that have defeated Kentucky rank in the top 75 (of 364 teams) in assists allowed, but against those teams Kentucky's numbers:
Georgia: 8 assists, 13 turnovers
Ohio State: 11 assists, 10 turnovers
Clemson: 11 assists, 12 turnovers
Arkansas: 11 assists, 14 turnovers
Vanderbilt: 11 assists, 17 turnovers
Kentucky's 10th in the country at 17.7 assists per game, so the average in wins is far higher than the average in losses.
The lone outlier is the Alabama game (20 assists, 8 turnovers), but I think we can all agree that game went differently. Kentucky didn't lose because it played poorly, it lost because Alabama is really good and played great.Also: Kentucky has just one win against a team that ranks in the top-25 in fewest assists allowed per game (Tennessee) and two wins (+ Florida) against teams in the top-64 nationally in assists allowed per game.
Overall, Kentucky is 3-6 against teams ranking in the top-75 in assists allowed and 12-0 against teams ranking below that.
One thing that stands out: Assists allowed. We have seen that when Kentucky doesn't have many assists, they tend to lose. They have a bunch when they win.
Assists allowed, NCAA rankings:
Clemson - 15th
Georgia - 37th
Ohio State - 40th
Alabama - 50th
Arkansas - 57th
Vanderbilt - 74th
It might not seem like a big deal that all six teams that have defeated Kentucky rank in the top 75 (of 364 teams) in assists allowed, but against those teams Kentucky's numbers:
Georgia: 8 assists, 13 turnovers
Ohio State: 11 assists, 10 turnovers
Clemson: 11 assists, 12 turnovers
Arkansas: 11 assists, 14 turnovers
Vanderbilt: 11 assists, 17 turnovers
Kentucky's 10th in the country at 17.7 assists per game, so the average in wins is far higher than the average in losses.
The lone outlier is the Alabama game (20 assists, 8 turnovers), but I think we can all agree that game went differently. Kentucky didn't lose because it played poorly, it lost because Alabama is really good and played great.Also: Kentucky has just one win against a team that ranks in the top-25 in fewest assists allowed per game (Tennessee) and two wins (+ Florida) against teams in the top-64 nationally in assists allowed per game.
Overall, Kentucky is 3-6 against teams ranking in the top-75 in assists allowed and 12-0 against teams ranking below that.
