Watch the Tape: Mississippi State Bulldogs

Winning is all that matters. The reason why you practice and watch film is to clean up the mistakes and try to be better the next game. However, in the moment, you just have to find a way to win the basketball game. That is what Kentucky did on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats escaped with an 82-74 overtime victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Despite the game going to overtime, Kentucky was actually in control for the majority of the way. The ‘Cats led by as many as 16 in the second half and had a 53-38 advantage with 12:23 remaining. However, a 9-0 Mississippi State run stretched into a 17-6 run over the next six minutes of game play. The Bulldogs eventually tied it with just over four minutes left and we had a brand new ball game on our hands.

It was a tale of two halves (and overtime) for the Wildcats defensively. After holding the Mississippi State Bulldogs to 24 points in the first half, UK gave up 48 in the second half. Then, they put the clamps back on winning the overtime period 10-2. We will take a look at the defensive dichotomy in this edition of watch the tape. Also, we will look at some of the winning plays made by unlikely heroes such as Dontaie Allen, Bryce Hopkins, and Lance Ware. Let’s step inside the film room and take a look back at last night’s game.

Kentucky’s Elite First Half Defense

Anytime you can hold a team to 24 points in a half, you are doing something right. When you hold a KenPom top 25 offense like the Mississippi State Bulldogs to 24 points in a half then you really are on to something. Kentucky was able to lock up thanks to great on-ball defense and aggressiveness in the passing lanes. There were some really nice plays made in the second half too which we will show as well. Here are some of the defensive possessions that set the tone against the Bulldogs.

Kentucky has gotten really good at making their opponents run offense outside of the scoring area. They do a great job of pushing catches out off the three-point arc thanks to fighting over screens and being aggressive in the passing lanes. The shot clock is already under 20 seconds and Mississippi State is getting a catch all the way out at the half court circle. Then, Oscar Tshiebwe tips a pass into the backcourt. Tshiebwe hustles to recover, Kellan Grady blows up a handoff by fighting over the top, and then he and Tshiebwe switch the downhill handoff to perfection. The big man moves his feet well and gets a block at the rim. This is excellent defense by Oscar Tshiebwe after he really struggled against Auburn.

Sometimes hustling really hard is better than playing sound defense. There is no reason for Bryce Hopkins and Jacob Toppin to not just know you are switching the initial screen. As “like” defenders you should ALWAYS switch this. That is on Toppin to communicate. However, after Hopkins initially stays with the ball handler, he hustles to get into position and take away Garrison Brooks’ right hand drive. He then gives a hard contest to the jump shot and Oscar Tshiebwe cleans up the miss.

After the Auburn game we talked about how Oscar Tshiebwe was playing way too high on his ballscreen coverage. That is still true in this clip. There is no reason for his feet to be outside the three-point line. However, he does a great job of giving more ground towards the basket and moves his feet well to stay with D.J. Jeffries on the drive. After a good contest at the rim Tshiebwe gets the rebound as well. It still isn’t perfect, but this is much improved ballscreen defense.

Before moving on, it wasn’t all bad on the defensive end in the second half. Despite giving up 48 points to the Bulldogs, Kentucky still had some really strong possessions. This clip shows exactly what we have talked about with the Wildcats forcing their opponents to play outside of the scoring area. Mississippi State only gets two dribbles inside the three-point arc this whole possession, never touches the paint, and is outside of the scoring area until 10 seconds are left on the shot clock. The Wildcats have been pretty darn good off the ball this season.

Defensive Lapses in the Second Half

Getting torched by Iverson Molinar is something that has happened, and will continue to happen, for a lot of SEC teams. The junior guard is exceptionally good. Despite giving up 30 points to him, Molinar was really not the problem during Kentucky’s worst defensive stretch. Not following the scouting report and not executing fundamental basketball concepts handed the Bulldogs a lot of points when they needed them most.

#3 Shakeel Moore is really the Mississippi State Bulldogs only shooter, at least by scouting report standards. What he does best is shoot threes. When you are guarding a shooter you have to CHASE off of downscreens like this one. You cannot go “up through” which allows the shooter to flare for an open three. Coaches don’t just make stuff up when they say these things. Sahvir Wheeler gives up a three to Moore because he went up through the screen.

Planning to switch this action is totally fine. However, when you are going to switch you have to come together. You should literally be able to touch your teammate that you are wanting to switch with. On this play, Davion Mintz is pointing out the switch to Kellan Grady but is never even within six feet of him. Iverson Molinar then knows to slip to the basket for an easy layup. This lack of execution from Mintz is disappointing to see from a sixth year senior.

Once again, coaches don’t just make these things up going into games. You have to go OVER the ballscreens when they are set for a shooter. #3 Moore was Mississippi State’s only shooter. He is praying that you go under the ballscreen so he can shoot the three behind it. Davion Mintz needed to jump out to Moore and take away all that space at the point of the screen. Instead, he gets caught hoping under and Moore nails the three to cap off a 17-6 run by the Bulldogs.

Not long after the mistake by Mintz, Sahvir Wheeler makes the exact same mistake by going under the ballscreen. This is especially frustrating because Wheeler is so good at fighting over top of screens as he does on the first one in this clip. However, he gets caught going under and #3 Moore knocks in another uncontested three-pointer behind the ballscreen.

Help from Unlikely Sources

It is safe to say that nobody had a lineup of Kellan Grady, Dontaie Allen, Bryce Hopkins, Keion Brooks, and Lance Ware on their bingo card last night. However, Allen, Hopkins, and Ware all made critical plays for Kentucky that helped lead them to victory against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Despite still just going 1-5 from beyond the arc against the Bulldogs, Dontaie Allen actually came up with three big defensive plays in his 18 minutes off the bench. This hustle play was the first of them that saved a bucket at the rim after a Sahvir Wheeler turnover. Great to see Allen hustling back and making a play on the ball.

Bryce Hopkins only played five minutes, but he contributed to a four point swing to end the first half. In a game that ultimately went to overtime that swing could have been the difference between winning and losing. Hopkins sprinted back on defense to get a big block and then was rewarded with a two-handed dunk on the other end. Lance Ware made a great hustle play here as well keeping the ball alive on the offensive glass.

This play by Lance Ware led to Kentucky taking their largest lead of the game on Kellan Grady’s three-pointer. Ware was excellent in eight minutes off the bench finishing a big dunk and grabbing four rebounds. His constant hustle and energy really make a difference when he is out there.