Yeah, so there is only one Kentucky. And yeah, the Tennessee Volunteers have a shot to go up 4-3 on the Wildcats in the Bruce Pearl era. And yes, Kentucky's not ranked, and they've lost four games already including their opener to the Virginia Military Keydets (not a spelling error!).
But yeeeow, look at those numbers.
KEY STATS COMPARISON |
 |
 |
||
| Category | Rank |
Actual |
Rank |
Actual |
| Scoring Offense | 6 |
84.3 |
25 |
79.8 |
| Scoring Defense | 298 |
75.1 |
108 |
64.8 |
| Scoring Margin | 68 |
9.1 |
20 |
15.0 |
| Field-Goal Percentage | 97 |
45.5 |
6 |
50.5 |
| Field-Goal Percentage Defense | 217 |
43.9 |
11 |
36.9 |
| Three-Point Field Goals Per Game | 113 |
6.9 |
214 |
5.8 |
| Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage | 244 |
30.8 |
179 |
33.7 |
| Three Pt FG Defense | 232 |
0.352 |
159 |
0.337 |
| Free-Throw Percentage | 143 |
69.4 |
4 |
78.7 |
| Rebound Margin | 12 |
8.6 |
23 |
7.3 |
| Assists Per Game | 16 |
17.6 |
11 |
17.9 |
| Assist Turnover Ratio | 46 |
1.17 |
133 |
0.99 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 91 |
4.0 |
2 |
7.5 |
| Steals Per Game | 132 |
7.2 |
164 |
6.9 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 218 |
15.0 |
318 |
18.1 |
| Turnover Margin | 146 |
0.6 |
276 |
-2.1 |
| Personal Fouls Per Game | 298 |
21.1 |
126 |
18.0 |
Second in the nation in blocked shots. Fourth in the nation in free throw percentage. Sixth in field goal percentage. Eleventh in field goal percentage defense and assists. Twentieth in scoring margin. This is still Kentucky.
And all of that against Tennessee's scoring defense, which ranks . . . 298th. The player most likely to have a career game against the Vols tonight? Jodie Meeks, who has inherited top 35 national rankings in points per game, free throw percentage, three pointers per game, and three point percentage. The player most likely to give Wayne Chism and Brian Williams fits? Patrick Patterson, who has alliterated his way to first in the nation in field goal percentage and top 50 rankings in points, rebounds, and blocks per game.
| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |
|
||||
| Category | Player | Rank | Actual | Player | Rank | Actual |
| Points PG | Tyler Smith | 87
|
17.7
|
Jodie Meeks Patrick Patterson |
5
47 |
24.2
18.9 |
| FG% | Patrick Patterson | 1
|
70.9
|
|||
| 3-Point FG PG | Jodie Meeks | 10
|
3.6
|
|||
| 3-Point FG% | Jodie Meeks | 34
|
41.9
|
|||
| FT % | Jodie Meeks | 8
|
90.2
|
|||
| Rebounds PG | Wayne Chism | 35
|
9.1
|
Patrick Patterson | 32
|
9.3
|
| Assists PG | ||||||
| Blocks PG | Perry Stevenson Patrick Patterson |
24
49 |
2.4
2.1 |
|||
| Steals PG | ||||||
| Assist-TO Ratio |
Bobby Maze | 51
|
2.2
|
|||
Kentucky has won four of its last six road games against Tennessee, and our team is currently struggling defensively. Still, if their team is anything like their fans, the Wildcats might be a bit overconfident. And doesn't Wheezy tend to have huge games when he's pitted against a star player? And wouldn't pythags within .003 of each other generally suggest sortaprollymaybe a close game?
It's an Orange Jacket game, y'all. I hope Pearl takes it off at just the right time.