This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Hitting the Road

The Kentucky Basketball team had a fun weekend. It doesn’t get much better in Big Blue Nation than pounding the rival Tennessee Volunteers and the ‘Cats did just that with a 107-79 victory on Saturday. Now, the Wildcats hit the road for a pair of games against the teams sitting atop the conference standings.

Texas A&M and Auburn are the lone unbeaten teams remaining in the SEC and will welcome UK to their respective home floors this week. In order to compete for a conference championship you have to find a way to win road games against really good teams. The Wildcats will certainly get that opportunity this week.

Life in the Southeastern Conference, or any high-major league, can come at you fast. Kentucky gets no time to celebrate the blowout victory of Tennessee before having to travel to College Station. However, that is what makes each victory in the conference mean so much. Coach Calipari and the ‘Cats will take it one game at a time and look to go 1-0 on Wednesday night. For the fans though, this will be an extremely fun week with two high-profile games culminating with the afternoon CBS slot at Auburn on Saturday.

As we do each Monday, this week in Kentucky Basketball will serve as your primer for the week ahead. We will touch on the biggest storyline currently surrounding the program, preview the upcoming games, take a look around the SEC as a whole, and highlight the top games to watch nationally. Let’s dive on in and get ready for a fun week.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: The Wildcats are a Top 5 Offense

After Sahvir Wheeler went down just four minutes into the game against LSU, the Wildcats couldn’t handle the Tigers pressure defense and would put up season low scoring output in the 65-60 defeat. However, TyTy Washington officially took the reins at point guard to lead Kentucky to wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt. The offense wasn’t missing a beat and the question loomed of how good things would be when Wheeler returned. That question was answered Saturday afternoon.

With their starting point guard guard back in the saddle, Kentucky looked like the best offensive team in the country against Tennessee. Putting up 107 points is impressive regardless of the opponent, but doing it against an elite defensive team that was allowing just 60.7 points per game will really turn some heads nationally. Kentucky is now up to 4th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric.

The Wildcats will face two more excellent defenses this week. It isn’t realistic to expect 100 points every time out now. However, this Kentucky Basketball team is now averaging 84 points per contest which is sixth in the country. Being able to play in the 80’s or 90’s will go a long way towards picking up a couple of big road wins this week.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Texas A&M & Auburn

Texas A&M Aggies

If you read the SEC Power Rankings here on KSR you wouldn’t be shocked that Coach Buzz Williams has the Aggies off to such a great start to their season. However, the 15-2 record, including 4-0 in the SEC, would be surprising to just about anybody. For context it is important to note that Texas A&M has played a very favorable schedule. They’ve only played four Top 100 opponents losing to Wisconsin and TCU while defeating Notre Dame and Arkansas. Still, racking up 15 wins is impressive regardless of who you are playing.

The transfer portal has proven to be a winner for Coach Williams this season. Landing Wyoming transfer Marcus Williams was a major win for the program, but Henry Coleman III (Duke) and Tyrece Radford (Virginia Tech) have also found themselves in the starting lineup. True freshman Wade Taylor IV, a four-star recruit out of Lancaster, Texas, has been excellent as well. This group of newcomers has quickly gelled together and now sit at the top of the Southeastern Conference standings at 4-0.

Auburn Tigers

Many Kentucky Basketball fans got their first look at Coach Bruce Pearl’s squad on Tuesday when they played Alabama on ESPN following our game with Vanderbilt. Auburn is 16-1 overall, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers only loss came in double overtime against UConn. There is no denying the fact that Auburn is one of the very best teams in the country.

The Tigers appear to have stuck gold in five-star freshman Jabari Smith who has become a trendy name to be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft. In the backcourt, K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. have been even better than anyone could have imagined. Additionally, Walker Kessler has proven to be the best rim protector in the county with a crazy 19.7% block rate. Auburn has all of those pieces and are just now starting to get Allen Flanigan back into shape who was selected preseason First Team All-SEC. This is an extremely talented basketball team.

Around the Southeastern Conference

As already stated, Auburn and Texas A&M lead the conference as the only undefeated teams remaining. Kentucky and Mississippi State are right behind with one loss a piece. The SEC is shaping up to be an absolute battle this season.

When looking at surprises around the conference the fact that Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida all already have three losses stands out. It will be interesting to see which of those teams can quickly right the ship and stay in the hunt towards the top of the standings.

LSU at Alabama and Kentucky at Texas A&M headline the SEC schedule on Wednesday night. The game of the week will come on Saturday when the Wildcats travel to Auburn for an afternoon tip-off on CBS. LSU is also at Tennessee this weekend on ESPN. Get ready for another fun, full week of Southeastern Conference basketball.

Games to Watch Nationally

Tuesday, January 18th

#5 Baylor @ West Virginia (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN2)

#7 Kansas @ Oklahoma (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN)

IUPUI @ #19 Ohio State (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

Butler @ #25 UConn (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

South Florida @ #10 Houston (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

Kansas State @ #23 Texas (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Longhorn Network)

#6 Duke @ Florida State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN)

#8 Wisconsin @ Northwestern (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

#15 Iowa State @ #18 Texas Tech (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPNU)

#24 Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

Wednesday, January 19th

#13 LSU @ Alabama (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN2)

Marquette @ #11 Villanova (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time CBSSN)

#12 Kentucky @ Texas A&M (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time SEC Network)

Georgia @ #2 Auburn (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPNU)

#20 Xavier @ DePaul (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Thursday, January 20th

Georgetown @ #21 Providence (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

#4 Purdue @ Indiana (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

#16 USC @ Colorado (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time Pac 12 Network)

#25 UConn @ Butler (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

#9 UCLA @ Utah (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#3 Arizona @ Stanford (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPNU)

Friday, January 21st

#17 Illinois @ Maryland (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

#14 Michigan State @ #8 Wisconsin (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time FS1)

Saturday, January 22nd

Nebraska @ #19 Ohio State (TBD)

Syracuse @ #6 Duke (Noon Eastern Time ESPN)

#11 Villanova @ Georgetown (Noon Eastern Time)

West Virginia @ #18 Texas Tech (Noon Eastern Time ESPN2)

#12 Kentucky @ #2 Auburn (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time CBS)

Oklahoma State @ #23 Texas (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#5 Baylor @ Oklahoma (3:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

#7 Kansas @ Kansas State (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN+)

TCU @ #15 Iowa State (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

East Carolina @ #10 Houston (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#13 LSU @ #24 Tennessee (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ESPN)

#16 USC @ Utah (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time Pac 12 Network)

#9 UCLA @ Colorado (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Sunday, January 23rd

Butler @ #21 Providence (Noon Eastern Time)

Northwestern @ #4 Purdue (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time Big 10 Network)

#20 Xavier @ Marquette (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#3 Arizona @ California (3:00 p.m. Eastern Time)