This Week in Kentucky Basketball: A Step Up in Competition

It has been a pretty smooth start to the season for Kentucky Basketball. A 2-0 record without Oscar Tshiebwe, Daimion Collins, and just one game of Sahvir Wheeler is nothing to take for granted. When considering the 95-63 and 77-52 winning results it actually becomes pretty impressive. However, the opening week tune-up is now in the rearview mirror. The Wildcats will find out what they are made of this week with two games away from Rupp Arena against very good basketball teams. A home matchup with South Carolina State is sandwiched between the two marquee matchups.

On Tuesday night, Kentucky will travel to Indianapolis for their Champions Classic matchup against Michigan State. Then, on Sunday, the ‘Cats head to the Pacific Northwest to play Gonzaga. Oddly enough, those two programs played each other on Friday out in San Diego aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Bulldogs defeated the Spartans 64-63. With the status of reining National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe still unknown, head coach John Calipari and company will have a tall task this week. However, through two games the Wildcats have played very well without their superstar big man.

As we do each Monday, it is time to look ahead to the upcoming week as it pertains to the Kentucky Men’s Basketball program. Especially after an ugly football loss on Saturday, it feels like Big Blue Nation is ready to dive into hoops. The timing couldn’t be more perfect with the big games coming this week. Here is everything you need to know about the Wildcats’ upcoming week on the hardwood.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: Stiffer Competition on the Horizon

Kentucky fans have voiced some displeasure about the lack of marquee non-conference games at Rupp Arena. However, there is no denying how incredibly difficult and competitive the non-conference slate is as a whole. We will start to see that firsthand this week as the Wildcats play both Michigan State and Gonzaga away from Lexington.

These are the type of games that will be important when determining seed lines on Selection Sunday. The potential of securing a number one seed is even more attractive this year as the South Regional will be played at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Kentucky will likely have to be on the top seed line to be sent to Louisville. A neutral site win over the Spartans and/or a road victory at Gonzaga would provide a nice November resume boost.

Over on KenPom, the Wildcats are currently projected to defeat Michigan State 74-66 but lose to Gonzaga 78-76. It would stand to reason that any minutes that Oscar Tshiebwe can provide this week would shift those predictions in some fashion. However, if the Wildcats can continue to rely on outstanding shooting from Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick they just might be able to survive without their All-American center. This week will be a new test though for Reeves and Fredrick who haven’t faced high-major competition in quite some time.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Michigan State, South Carolina State, Gonzaga

Michigan State Spartans

Led by 27th-year head coach Tom Izzo, the Spartans feature a veteran starting five with a splash of young talent off of the bench. There is a lot of continuity in East Lansing and those older guys helped to push Gonzaga to the brink on Friday. However, poor outside shooting and very little help from the bench kept them from holding on. Last season, the Spartans were an excellent 3-point shooting team and they were 9-27 in their opener against Northern Arizona. It is fair to chalk up Friday’s 3-16 performance to the game being played outdoors. Michigan State had an outstanding game plan for guarding the Bulldogs and you can expect the same when they face the Wildcats on Tuesday. This will obviously be the toughest test of the young season so far for Kentucky Basketball.

South Carolina State Bulldogs

With all due respect to South Carolina State, nobody is spending much time talking about this game this week. Sandwiched in between two marquee matchups, this is as stereotypical of a look-ahead spot as you can possibly have. The good news for Kentucky fans is that this team is simply not very good. Despite taking South Carolina down to the wire in their first game, the Bulldogs are expected to be one of the worst teams in the country this season. We will get to see them against common opponent Duquesne on Monday night for a better feel of what to expect on Thursday.

Gonzaga Bulldogs

This will be one of the most anticipated games of the entire college basketball season. A Top 5 matchup between the Dawgs and the ‘Cats, this game will be played at Spokane Arena just about a mile from The Kennel. Any talk of this not being a true road game is silly. Spokane Arena is closer to Gonzaga’s campus than Rupp Arena is to Kentucky’s. The only difference now is there will be 10,000+ screaming fans instead of about 6,000.

Led by All-American Drew Timme, the Bulldogs once again have an extremely talented roster. Nolan Hickman, a name Kentucky fans should know, is handling point guard duties this season while fifth-year senior Rasir Bolton is coming off of a career shooting year. Chattanooga transfer Malachi Smith will be a potential X-factor off of the bench as well. Kentucky will likely need to play their best game of the season to win on Sunday in Spokane.

Around the Southeastern Conference

Mississippi State and Missouri had 3-0 opening weeks while nine other SEC programs began their seasons 2-0. However, for all of the success that was had in week one, it was Tennessee’s loss to Colorado on Sunday that probably got the most attention. The Volunteers had a lot of hype heading into this year following their pay-per-view beat down of Gonzaga. Their offense was clicking on all cylinders and the defense looked like another tough group under head coach Rick Barnes. It all came crumbling down against the Buffaloes though.

Tennessee shot 10-37 from beyond the arc and an even worse 6-26 from two-point range. It is hard to win college basketball games when you shoot just 25% from the field. The 78-66 defeat may serve as a wake-up call to what is still one of the more talented rosters in the country.

Elsewhere, Mississippi State picked up an impressive 73-54 win over a good Akron team at the Barstool Sports Invitational. All-SEC big man Tolu Smith finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in that one. He is 23-30 from the field this year. Missouri is playing a fun brand of basketball under new head coach Dennis Gates. The Tigers are starting four transfers plus veteran Kobe Brown and just might be a surprise team in the Southeastern Conference. However, we won’t learn much in the non-conference until a December 10th matchup with Kansas.

Lastly, Vanderbilt finds themselves in the cellar once again as the only winless SEC team through week one. They fell 76-67 on opening night to Memphis and then suffered an ugly 60-48 home loss to Southern Miss. After head coach Jerry Stackhouse schemed his way to back-to-back top 100 offenses per KenPom, it looks like the Commodores might really struggle to score the basketball this year.

National Games to Watch

Monday, November 14th

#3 Houston vs. Oral Roberts @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)
#5 Baylor vs. Northern Colorado @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#15 TCU vs. Northwestern State @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#23 Texas Tech vs. Louisiana Tech @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#10 Creighton vs. Holy Cross @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS Sports Network)
#19 Illinois vs. Monmouth @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Big Ten Network)
#8 UCLA vs. Norfolk State @ 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Pac 12 Network)

Tuesday, November 15th

#4 Kentucky vs. Michigan State @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN) in Indianapolis
#13 Auburn vs. Winthrop @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (SEC Network)
#25 UConn vs. Buffalo @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS Sports Network)
#1 North Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ACC Network)
Stanford vs. #17 San Diego State @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Pac 12 Network)
#6 Kansas vs. #7 Duke @ 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN) in Indianapolis
South Alabama vs. #18 Alabama @ 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPNU)
UNLV vs. #21 Dayton @ 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS Sports Network)

Wednesday, November 16th

#20 Michigan vs. Pittsburgh @ 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPNU) in Brooklyn
#22 Tennessee vs. Florida Gulf Coast @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)
#3 Houston vs. Texas Southern @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)
#9 Arkansas vs. South Dakota State @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)
#11 Texas vs. #2 Gonzaga @ 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2)

Thursday, November 17th

#4 Kentucky vs. South Carolina State @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (SEC Network)
#24 Texas A&M vs. Murray State @ 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) in Conway, SC
#15 TCU vs. UL Monroe @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#10 Creighton vs. UC Riverside @ 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#14 Arizona vs. Utah Tech @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Friday, November 18th

Xavier vs. #12 Indiana @ 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (FS1)
#5 Baylor vs. #16 Virginia @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN2) in Las Vegas
#7 Duke vs. Delaware @ 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ACC Network)
#6 Kansas vs. Southern Utah @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+/Big 12 Network)
#13 Auburn vs. Texas Southern @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)
#25 UConn vs. UNC Wilmington @ 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time (FS2)
#18 Alabama vs. Jacksonville State @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (SEC Network)
#8 UCLA vs. #19 Illinois @ 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPNU) in Las Vegas

Saturday, November 19th

#21 Dayton vs. Robert Morris @ 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN+)

Sunday, November 20th

#1 North Carolina vs. James Madison @ Noon Eastern Time (ACC Network)
#25 UConn vs. Delaware State @ 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (FS1)
#12 Indiana vs. Miami (OH) @ 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (Big Ten Network) in Indianapolis
#2 Gonzaga vs. #4 Kentucky @ 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN)
#20 Michigan vs. Ohio @ 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time (Big Ten Network)
Oregon vs. #3 Houston @ 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPN)