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By: Tyler Adkins
Today is the first time that UK will be welcoming Texas A&M to Rupp Arena as a SEC member. Texas A&M is a tougher matchup on paper than Vanderbilt, but hopefully the result will be the same. UK is going for their 21st straight regular season SEC win so lets get to the “things to watch for:”
*Wiltjer’s defense
Kyle Wiltjer had a very rough game in Nashville. That is not disputable. But that is the exception, not the norm from him. He has had an up and down season from deep, but he really started to hit his stride recently. Wiltjer always competes hard, but he has to find a way to be able to guard players in order to stay on the court. He can expect to see a lot of isolation when he is in the game and in the words of Calipari, “he better figure it out.” The key to this game will be him defending well and staying on the court because UK is better with him as a scoring threat.
*Poythress’s pride
Calipari not only called out Wiltjer after the Vanderbilt game, but he also called out Alex Poythress. Poythress has been called out as many times by Calipari as any player I can remember in his tenure. At some point, it would seem Poythress will get tired of being told he isn’t playing hard enough and go out and have an incredible game. UK really needs him to step up against A&M, because they are a physical team. Poythress can’t have a game where he has 4 shots and 5 rebounds. He needs to have a big time game.
*Good Goodwin
Goodwin has been struggling some lately, especially with turning the ball over. UK needs “good” Goodwin to show up. He needs to take care of the ball and make good decisions. When he is smart with his choices he is the best scorer on the team and one of the best in the SEC. When he makes poor decisions he becomes a turnover machine and completely takes himself out of the game. Goodwin needs to have a smart game tomorrow.
*40 Minutes
UK needs to adopt the UK Hoops team’s mantra of playing hard for all 40 minutes. The first 25 minutes of the Vanderbilt game, and much of the season, they have looked like a top 20 team. But there is a lull in almost every game where they let the other team come back and make a game of it. That is how Vanderbilt went on a 18-0 run and almost pulled off an improbable upset. UK has to be able to play a full 40 minutes the way they play the first 25.
*Rebounding
The Cats have really improved over the course of this season in the rebounding category, until the Vanderbilt game. Vanderbilt was the worst rebounding team in the SEC and still somehow managed to outrebound the Cats by 5. They also dominated on the offensive glass. The Cats need to figure out the problems quickly or Texas A&M will feast on the boards. If it is an effort deal, like Calipari says, then the Cats need to show an improved effort and focus on grabbing rebounds.
Now lets all take a deep breath and hope the Cats used the Vanderbilt game as a wake up call. Go Big Blue.
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