Kentucky will be better prepared to handle Michigan State's transition offense

Kentucky did not handle Louisville’s pace well at all during last Tuesday’s loss in the KFC Yum! Center. Head coach Mark Pope said afterward that the Wildcats gave up 34 points to the Cardinals within the first eight seconds of the shot clock. Louisville had no problem running up and down the floor with ease, relentlessly attacking a Kentucky defense that couldn’t find a solution for nearly the entire 40-minute game.

The good news? Pope now has 40 minutes of a high-speed offense on film for his defense to dissect. They’ll need all of it, too — Kentucky’s next opponent on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden (6:30 p.m. ET | ESPN), Michigan State, likes to get out and push the pace when possible.

“They’re a very good team, very physical team,” Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen said of the Spartans on Monday morning. “They get out in transition pretty fast. Just preparing for them and trying to limit as much transition as possible. Just guarding our yard and sticking to the film.”

Tom Izzo’s Michigan State club isn’t near the overall offensive threat that Louisville is, but this is a group that can rack up easy points in transition if the other team isn’t too careful. Below are some of the Spartans’ (3-0) transition numbers from their first three games:

• Colgate (80-69 W): 20 fastbreak points | 16 points off 13 forced turnovers
• Arkansas (69-66 W): 14 fastbreak points | 10 points off 14 forced turnovers
• San Jose St. (79-60 W): 24 fastbreak points | nine points off nine forced turnovers

Michigan State isn’t a team that pushes the ball every opportunity, but they’ve been efficient and effective whenever they do. Per Synergy, the Spartans have scored nearly 20 percent of their points in transition this season, posting an above-average mark of 1.149 points per transition possession.

“This is one of those games where we have to be really good at transition defense,” Kentucky freshman Malachi Moreno said. “It’s gonna be a war, as well. Because they’re really good on the glass.”

Aberdeen and Moreno both mentioned transition defense as a major talking point in recent practices. They expect to be better in that area against Michigan State on Tuesday. But they also said that they expect to be aggressive in transition in their own right. Kentucky is among the top teams in the country in overall offense (8th, per KenPom) and shortest length of possession (48th).

But as Moreno mentioned, transition isn’t the only thing the Wildcats will focus on. Michigan State is rebounding 45.5 percent of its own misses, a mark that ranks fifth in the country. Senior forward Jaxon Kohler is averaging 13.3 rebounds per game (5.3 offensive), which leads all Big Ten players. The Spartans are assisting on 78.2 percent of their made field goals so far this season, tops in the nation. Junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. leads the country in assists per game at 9.3. This is a group that prefers to get to the line as opposed to firing up three-pointers.

All that being said, transition defense has been the talk of practice the last couple of days. Kentucky will be better prepared to handle it, but will they be able to actually execute when the ball is tipped?

“We know what we need to fix and what we can get better on,” Moreno added. “I think we have a chance to re-prove ourselves and really make a statement.”

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.