Photo by Jeff Houchin
The calm before the storm is over, as the Kentucky Wildcats are in New York City to face the Seton Hall Pirates. Saturday’s game will be their toughest task since their season-opening loss to the Duke Bluedevils. A win would provide high promise, while a loss would continue to stir opinions of under-achievement.
With such a deep, talented team, Saturday’s game should be a breeze when comparing the two teams on paper. However, Kentucky’s inability to lock-in and play consistent basketball for 40 minutes leaves reasonable doubt.
The Pirates are just 5-3 on the year, losing to Louisville, Nebraska and Saint Louis. If Kentucky wants to hand Seton Hall their fourth loss of the season, they’ll likely need more contributions than just those of graduate transfer Reid Travis.
Despite 2018 being his first year with the team, Travis has anchored the Wildcats in the half-court. Travis’s ability to dominate in the paint has become contagious, allowing Kentucky to out-muscle their opponents on the inside.
The emergence of Tyler Herro has elevated Kentucky’s status, too, but he’ll need additional assistance from the team’s backcourt for a win to be achieved on Saturday afternoon.
Disappearances of Nick Richards and Quade Green raise question marks on how “experienced” the group will be, but past John Calipari-coached teams have hardly ever not shown up for marquee games.
On Saturday, expect an energetic Kentucky team to come out aggressive. The Wildcats’ tendency to frequently shoot free throws early on has been a nightmare for opponents, which could very well ache the heads of Seton Hall on Saturday.
As the Pirates are the worst Big East team when shooting from behind the arc, Kentucky should still avoid letting up on defense. The Wildcats have made average three-point shooting teams look efficient early this season, which is an issue that will need to be handled come tip-off.
Since Kentucky’s schedule only gets tougher throughout the month of December, expect Calipari to stress to his team the significance of starting out with a win.
Coverage will begin at 12 P.M. EDT on FOX.
