Tony Barbee says Kentucky is on same level as Gonzaga

Tony Barbee didn’t do himself any favors when scheduling his first season as Central Michigan’s new head coach, but that was by design. With 14 new faces and a completely fresh start, the former Kentucky assistant wanted to show his squad what it’s like to play against the big dogs as he establishes his culture.

Already this season, five of the Chippewas’ six games played have come against quality opponents. Central Michigan has faced (and lost to) Missouri and DePaul with another loss to an underrated Bellarmine program. CMU was blown out at Rupp Arena on Monday night, 85-57, in Barbee’s return to Lexington, but Kentucky isn’t even the highest-ranked squad his team has faced thus far.

The previously No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs trounced Central Michigan by a final score of 107-54 just a week ago. The ‘Zags were later knocked from the top spot after a thrilling loss to Duke late Friday night. Despite the Blue Devil victory, most who watched were in agreement that Duke and Gonzaga were two of the country’s best teams.

As someone who has now played both Gonzaga and Kentucky head-to-head in a week span, Barbee saw a lot of similarities between the two. He even went as far as to say both teams are worthy of being considered in the same breath.

“100 percent,” Barbee said postgame when asked if Kentucky is on Gonzaga’s level. “They’re as physically imposing as Gonzaga is all across the floor. And then when you’ve got guards that can put pressure on the ball defensively like TyTy (Washington) and Sahvir (Wheeler), and then can also put pressure on the rim in the paint like those two can, they’re a hard team to handle.”

It’s not just the backcourt that impressed Barbee, though. When any team has a Machine of a man patrolling the paint, it can feel impossible to overcome.

“And then obviously their frontline is one of the most dominant in the country starting with Oscar (Tshiebwe),” Barbee added. “He’s a guy that impacts a game–he’s a coach’s dream, he impacts the game without ever needing the ball. He’s a load defensively on the defensive end of the floor and obviously what he does on the backboard, it hadn’t been seen in college basketball in years if not decades. So yeah they’re on Gonzaga’s level.”

It’s tough to argue against Duke’s status as the No. 1 team in the country right now, which was confirmed in the updated AP Poll on Monday. Paolo Banchero has “top pick in the NBA Draft” potential and the roster is loaded from top to bottom.

But Kentucky was right there with Duke when the two met in Madison Square Garden for the season-opener. UK was one good TyTy Washington performance away from potentially sneaking out of New York City with a win. Sure, the recent stretch of cupcake opponents can make it tougher to figure out how good Kentucky actually is right now. But the sense around the team and from the opposition is that the ‘Cats are right up there with the very best in that top tier.

“We played Duke the first game of the season, we didn’t play well. We didn’t play to the standard that we’re known for playing, and we only lost by eight,” Kentucky forward Jacob Toppin said after Monday’s win. “We played six, seven games now, we’ve definitely gotten better and I believe we’re one of the top teams in the nation. I just believe we’re one of the top teams in the nation by the way we play and the way we share the ball and the way we shoot it.”

Kentucky is back to being considered a Top 10 team in the country, according to the national polls, and it will have every chance to prove it in the coming weeks. With three straight Power 5 matchups against Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Louisville on the December docket, we’ll all know rather quickly if Kentucky is a legitimate NCAA Tournament contender.