Texas HC Sean Miller praised Kentucky's ability to attack the Longhorns' defense

Texas’ drop coverage defense didn’t do enough to trip up Kentucky during Wednesday night’s game in Rupp Arena.

Head coach Mark Pope knew coming into this matchup that the Longhorns would utilize a drop coverage scheme. It was a focal point of the Wildcats’ gameplan during practice leading up to the game. Kentucky went on to win 85-80, its fourth straight SEC victory.

“We were prepared for that kind of defense that they were going to throw at us,” Junior forward Mo Dioubate said postgame. “It made it easier for us on the offensive end.”

Texas isn’t an overwhelmingly challenging defensive team (currently ranking 105th nationally in defensive efficiency, per KenPom), but they have found success on that end of the floor throughout the season. It was just a week ago that the Longhorns held Vanderbilt — a top 10 offense in the country — to only 64 points.

But Kentucky managed to rack up 85 points against the Longhorns’ drop coverage. Not necessarily by shooting the ball at a high clip from the field, but by attacking what the defense was giving them.

“I thought they did an outstanding job of attacking our drop coverage,” Texas head coach Sean Miller said of Kentucky. “They became too comfortable.”

That comfort level especially showed itself in the second half, when Kentucky was able to attack the Texas defense through middle ball screens, by being patient with the ball, and by putting pressure on the Longhorn bigs. Denzel Aberdeen, with help from UK’s bigs, was a key factor in being able to create points down the stretch for the ‘Cats.

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“They’re in a drop ballscreen defense,” Pope explained postgame. “Which means (Matas) Vokietaitis at the five will not come out to the point of the screen and he’s gonna stay kinda free-throw level, and then as our guard attacks downhill, (Vokietaitis is) going to back up.

“And what they’re hoping is to get a one-on-one possession with our guard against their seven-footer at like six feet, seven feet. The way we combat that is we’ll get a driving line, let our big roll into contact, and if our guards are smart enough, they can make a second move.”

Kentucky was able to generate a ton of free-throw opportunities through this method, their guards weaving through and probing in the lane with defenders on their hips before striking when pockets of space opened up. By getting downhill regularly, the Wildcats were able to draw 23 fouls and shoot the ball 35 times from the charity stripe, making a season-high 30 of them.

“The drop tricks you into going fast and giving up shots you don’t necessarily want to take, taking low-percentage points,” Pope added. “So the foul line is a big deal.”

There were still a handful of missed mid-range looks that could have been handled better, but for the most part, Kentucky did what was needed against Texas’ defense down the stretch.