Cason Wallace ready for Kansas, the Triangle-and-2, and more point guard

DrewFranklinKSR

On Saturday, the Kansas Jayhawks will be in Lexington to play your University of Kentucky Wildcats in a rematch of last year’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game in The Phog. Last season, Kentucky shocked the college basketball world with an 18-point road win in Allen Fieldhouse, in which the Cats led by as many as 24 points on the eventual national champion.

This time around, several of the same pieces are back on both sides of the blue-blooded rivalry. At Kentucky, back are four players who accounted for 39 points from last year’s game, and they are warning the newcomers about the Jayhawks’ pesky triangle-and-2 defense.

One of those newcomers, Cason Wallace, previewed the Wildcats’ Saturday home game against Kansas and he mentioned the junk defense as a talking point around the Joe Craft Center the last few days. Wallace said of his veteran teammates, “They just talk about how (Kansas) came in with so much energy and they were playing together and they had thrown a little different defense at them–the triangle-and 2. We’ve been talking about that and how we’re going to go about that situation.”

In that situation, Wallace will be one of the players targeted by Bill Self’s part-man, part-zone defense that Self has implemented with great success for many years. The hybrid concept keys on the opposing team’s two best perimeter scorers with man defense while zoning the other three, and Wallace can expect to see it from multiple angles as one of Kentucky’s best backcourt scorers and its new primary ballhandler. Lucky for him and Kentucky, Oscar Tshiebwe will be down low and the triangle-and-2 hates a good inside presence.

As for the other thing Wallace’s teammates warned him about, the Jayhawks’ energy; he said, given the circumstances, they expect Kansas will try to take their heads off.

“We know that they’re gonna come in and fight as hard as they can. They’re going to play together and they’re gonna try to take our heads off… They’ve been losing a few games in a row and they’re on the road, we beat them last year, so they’ve got some vengeance.”

On playing point guard beside CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves

Saturday’s game may be the biggest of the year in Rupp Arena, but the biggest storyline around Kentucky Basketball at the moment is the midseason switch at the starting point guard position. Since excelling as Sahvir Wheeler’s fill-in in Knoxville, Wallace has taken over primary point guard duties as part of the new Benny lineup that has Kentucky playing better–the one with Wallace, CJ Fredrick, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin, and Oscar Tshiebwe.

When asked what’s so good about the five, Wallace replied, “I feel like it spaces the court out. It makes them stay honest to the three-point line and with Oscar down low, it’s almost like like giving up another three points because he’s gonna get an and-one if he gets it down there.

“So, just knowing that we can throw it into him and if they double, he can throw it out. We got Jacob, he’s cutting down or he got the mid-range on lock and he’ll get putbacks. So I feel like that’s a hard lineup for teams to guard.”

The downside of the new five is the demotion of Sahvir Wheeler, an 85-game college starter, to a backup role. But like we saw Tuesday night against Vanderbilt, Wheeler can still make a huge impact on the game with the quick pace and experience he brings off the bench.

Wallace said, “He came in and the ball was just moving so much faster than what it was when I was in the game, but that’s him. He’s fast and that’s how he plays and that’s what this team needs to win. So, I have no problem with him coming into the game and doing what he did.”