Kentucky Basketball Film Breakdown - Michigan State Spartans

Coach Mark Pope is facing some real adversity for the first time since the very first day he was hired. Kentucky fans weren’t initially very happy when the news broke on April 12th, 2024. However, with just a couple of days, he had completely won the fanbase over. A historic amount of Top 15 wins and a trip to the Sweet 16 in year one, amid major injury issues, had Big Blue Nation excited about the future. The honeymoon phase is now officially over. A loss to the rival Louisville Cardinals followed by a beatdown at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans has sent the fanbase into a dark place. Continued injury issues, some perceived mishandling of media situations, and negative recruiting news hasn’t helped Coach Pope’s case either.

Obviously, winning can and will cure everything. There are plenty of chances throughout this non-conference schedule for the Wildcats to prove that they are still the preseason Top 10 team and Final Four contender that everyone thought they were. However, the next opportunity to really prove that won’t be until December 2nd when Kentucky hosts North Carolina. Kentucky has put themselves in a position where nobody is going to care about the outcome of these next two games against Loyola (MD) and Tennessee Tech. Until this team beats a high-quality opponent the fanbase will likely remain fairly pessimistic. It is only mid-November and there is a lot of story left to write for the 2025-2026 season, but right now the first chapter has been pretty ugly.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room breaking down Kentucky’s latest contest. The Michigan State Spartans outclassed the ‘Cats at nearly every turn. They made more three-point shots, dominated the rebounding effort, and held Kentucky to just 66 points. It was a near all systems failure at Madison Square Garden. This is a team that was put together to be more athletic and physical than last year’s group. However, they’ve been beaten in those two areas against both Louisville and Michigan State. The offense, which was once a well-oiled machine under Coach Pope, looks completely disjointed as well. When you mix in some rumored internal turmoil as well you get a pretty tough situation for the Wildcats. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Tuesday’s 83-66 loss to the Spartans.

The Good – Glimpses of “Old” Offense + Malachi Moreno

There has been, rightfully so, a lot of time spent discussing Kentucky’s offensive woes following Tuesday night’s debacle at Madison Square Garden. However, there were glimpses of what it needs to look like. The few times where the Wildcats would turn to Zoom Action it resulted in some great looks. Spacing, passing, and cutting will help this group manufacture offense. In the absence of an elite playmaker that is what they will have to do. Additionally, Malachi Moreno continues to exceed expectations at every turn. He has been one of the few true bright spots to begin the 2025-2026 season. The ‘Cats might have missed on the biggest name freshmen, but Moreno is a very good one.

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Right out of the gate we saw some encouraging offensive action from the ‘Cats. This possession features more pace and quicker cuts than we saw for most of the game. Brandon Garrison slips a ballscreen and Denzel Aberdeen reverses the ball. Then, Collin Chandler hits Garrison in the middle of the floor, makes a great cut, and receives a perfect pass. Chandler showcases excellent athleticism and balance to finish this at the rim over size as well. With all five Kentucky players lifted above the arc it really spread out the Michigan State Spartans’ defense. That became much more rare going forward.

This is what Kentucky’s offense looked like last year. Everyone in the building knew what was coming, but the defense still couldn’t guard it. Denzel Aberdeen dribbles it up, hits Malachi Moreno in the trail spot, and gets immediately into Zoom Action. With Collin Chandler, an elite shooter, coming off of the downscreen #55 Carr steps out to really take him away on the perimeter. That triggers Chandler to plant his foot and back cut to the rim. Moreno delivers a perfect pass and Chandler finishes another layup at the rim.

This was probably Kentucky’s best offensive possession of the game. Look at both Brandon Garrison and Andrija Jelavic on every catch in the middle of the floor. They both immediately turn their head and get the ball moving. Garrison swings it to Collin Chandler and follows his pass into a ballscreen. Jelavic gets a catch and immediately looks to the other side of the floor. Denzel Aberdeen makes a move like he is going to downscreen for Otega Oweh, but then comes off of the handoff himself. Then, once again, the ball gets reversed. Chandler dances with his man, makes a back cut, and receives another great pass from Garrison. Oweh finishes the play with a wide open corner three-point shot. Three ball reversals, decisive cuts, and great overall pace.

One of the above clips showcased Malachi Moreno’s passing, but he was effective on the low block as well. The freshman center finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 20 minutes. Coach Pope is clearly comfortable running stuff to get him the ball inside. This is a called slip to throw it to Moreno. He displays fluid athleticism and footwork to catch this on the move without traveling. Then, as he always does, he surveys the floor before dribbling. He ends up making a strong move to the midline, buries his man in the restricted arc, and gets fouled. Moreno was 7-8 from the free throw line on Tuesday night.

The Bad – Defensive Breakdowns Lead to Easy Buckets

The Michigan State Spartans had made 14 three-point shots in three games prior to Tuesday night. They made 11 against Kentucky. Admittedly, some of that is shooting variance. The Spartans, per Synergy, were 4-20 on uncontested three-point shots through their first three games. Then, they went 3-6 against the Wildcats with #55 Carr making one and #55 McCulloch making two. #0 Kohler was 2-2 from deep as well. When those three guys combine to shoot 5-6 from three-point range you just have to tip your cap as a defense. However, the biggest issue was allowing #2 Teng and #9 Fort to combine for 6-15 shooting. Letting their two best shooters get off 15 attempts showcases a lack of defensive game planning, concentration, and urgency.

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Collin Chandler is one of Kentucky’s best defensive players. However, what sort of positioning is this? The Michigan State Spartans are in a simple Horns ballscreen with Chandler guarding #9 Fort in the strong side corner. Chandler is standing parallel to the baseline and about eight feet off of Fort. Either get up on the line and in the gap or get tighter to the shooter. Preferably, it would be a bit of both. Chandler would be up in the gap, between #1 Fears Jr. and Fort, and then he would tighten up to Fort as the ball gets driven towards him. Instead, Chandler has to react to Fears Jr.’s pass and is late on the closeout against a high-level shooter.

Michigan State picked San Jose State apart in transition in their previous game. It was all over the film and almost assuredly was a point of emphasis coming into this matchup. However, the Wildcats still had some problems with the Spartans in transition. The first pillar of transition defense is to protect the basket. Mo Dioubate sprints his first couple of steps, but then is jogging and back pedaling by the time he reaches the arc. He never got down to the restricted arc until it was too late. Not sprinting ALL of the way back and actually declaring the basket directly allowed this easy layup for #0 Kohler. That is an effort and concentration issue.

#1 Fears Jr. is one of the elite playmakers in college basketball. However, he is also a non-shooter. The Michigan State Spartans point guard is 17-52 in 52 career games. That means he only even SHOOTS one per game. That didn’t stop Kentucky’s guards from picking him up 30+ feet from the basket and going over the top of the ballscreens. When Fears Jr. caught this pass Denzel Aberdeen should have backed up and gotten underneath the level of the ballscreen. Also, since that didn’t happen, he and Malachi Moreno should have switched the ballscreen. With only 7-8 seconds left on the shot clock you should be switching all ballscreens and handoffs anyway. If either of those two things would have happened it would have eliminated Otega Oweh’s perceived “need” to tag off of #2 Teng. Poor late clock defensive execution led to an easy three for a great shooter.

Jasper Johnson looked completely lost in this clip. #99 Ugochukwu is a non-shooter. He is 6-39 (15.4%) in 32 career games. Therefore, Johnson’s positioning when the ball first goes in the post is pretty good. There is no need to guard Ugochukwu away from the basket. However, he should have been MORE aggressive going to bother #0 Kohler. By being stuck in between it allowed Kohler to whip a cross court pass that put the Wildcats into rotation defensively. Kam Williams had a reckless closeout against a non-shooter and Johnson ran right passed the ball as Ugochukwu drove down a wide open paint for a layup.

The Ugly – Poor Offensive Execution and Selfish Play

Kentucky’s struggles on the defensive end of the floor made things much easier for the Michigan State Spartans to operate. However, game-to-game shooting variance also played a role. The Spartans could have shot 7-22 instead of 11-22 from three-point range and all of the sudden it would have been a totally different game. On the offensive end though, the issues were completely self-inflicted. The Wildcats abandoned Zoom Action, leaned into isolation play, and took far too many quick, forced shots. If Tuesday night was a window into Kentucky’s offense this season it will be a long 2025-2026 campaign for everyone involved.

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Earlier we showed Kentucky’s first offensive possession. It featured ball movement, spacing, and eventually a backdoor cut for a layup. Here is their second possession. The ball still changes sides of the floor, but there is zero penetration and certainly no Zoom Action despite the positioning being perfect. Any possession that ends with a Mo Dioubate three-point attempt without the ball ever getting below the arc, let alone touching the paint, is a really bad offensive possession.

Here is another offensive possession with zero penetration. Denzel Aberdeen hits Malachi Moreno, receives a handoff, and then throws it to Mo Dioubate in the corner. The very few three-point attempts that he gets on the season should be following a paint touch with five or less seconds on the shot clock. However, this attempt comes off of zero penetration and 17 seconds on the shot clock. There is simply no reason for this shot.

There is nothing inherently wrong with letting Jasper Johnson play off of a middle handoff. He is a good playmaker and is one of the few players on the team that can really put pressure on the defense. In fact, Johnson probably should have let it fly when his man went underneath the handoff. However, what can’t happen, is what comes next. Johnson’s penetration gets cut off so he swings it to Otega Oweh. Oweh then takes one dribble and shoots a 20-foot contested jump shot with 20 seconds on the shot clock. That is an incredibly disappointing decision from a senior.

Admittedly, it isn’t overly fair to say this, but if you are going to take this shot you better make it. Denzel Aberdeen is open, but time, score, and situation matter. The game is getting away from Kentucky. Michigan State just scored to go up 13 points and the ‘Cats have scored four points in nearly eight minutes. A pull-up three-pointer with 28 seconds on the shot clock shouldn’t be the best shot you can get in this situation. This is hero-ball at best and “it is my turn to shoot” at worst.

Speaking of “it is my turn to shoot,” that is sure what it feels like Jasper Johnson decided on this possession. Kentucky is down 15 points and instead of running any offense they essentially throw it to Johnson, a freshman, and ask him to create something out of nothing. A heavily contested step back three-points shot with 16 seconds on the clock can’t be what anyone wanted out of this possession.