Where: Rupp Arena – Lexington, KY
When: 2:00PM
How: ESPN2 (Dave Flemming & Fran Fraschilla)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)
Game Notes
- Providence and Kentucky have met twice all time with the Wildcats winning both contests. Prior to last season’s meeting at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY the first ever meeting of Providence and Kentucky was also in NYC with the Wildcats winning 79-78 in the 1976 NIT at Madison Square Garden.
- Kentucky welcomes Providence to Rupp Arena following a win against UT-Arlington on November 25th. The Wildcats leading scorer is sophomore guard Aaron Harrison with 11.2 ppg. Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns leads the team in rebounds with 7.7 rpg.
- Providence is 13-17 against the SEC all time.
- Providence was ranked 25th in the most recent USA Today Coaches Poll release on Monday. This is the first time the Friars have cracked a top 25 poll since the 2003-04 season which saw Providence finish 21st in the AP poll and 19th in the Coaches Poll. The most recent release of the AP poll had Providence receiving 63 votes which was good for 3 spots off the 25th spot.
- The line opened at Providence +20 and moved to Providence +21. The over/under is 132 or 133 depending where you look.
Game Preview
Providence is heading into Lexington as a heavy underdog against the #1 super-team of the Kentucky Wildcats. Their 9 McDonald’s All-Americans and 5 player platoon system are already well documented. Let’s get into the nuts and bolts of this matchup.
Freshman Jalen Lindsey and sophomore Kris Dunn, a former McDonald’s All-American himself, have been given the green light to play today after both sat out the Friars last game against Yale on Friday. That’s a big break for Ed Cooley but it remains to be seen how close to 100% Dunn is after not even taking part in the pregame warmups Friday which is something Lindsey at least did.
Kentucky ranks 2nd nationally in offensive efficiency according to Kenpom.com and 3rd in defensive efficiency. The Wildcats lead the nation in effective FG% defense at 32.4% and they also lead the nation in offensive rebound % at 48.8%. The national average is 31.5%. They also lead the nation in bench minutes due to their platoon substitution system and have the tallest average height in the country at 79.4″.
Where they are vulnerable is that they aren’t a great 3PT shooting or FT shooting team. The Wildcats only get 23% of their scoring from beyond the arc which is well below the national average of 27.8% and good for a ranking of 272nd. They are also below average at scoring from free throws. They get 56.2% of their scoring from 2 pointers which is 76th in the country.
I think because of those numbers above and to keep the Friars out of foul trouble you will see Ed Cooley play more zone today to try to force Kentucky to make jump shots. If Kentucky isn’t hot from deep and Providence is this could be an interesting Sunday afternoon.
The problem with playing zone is the Friars have struggled to grab defensive rebounds against smaller teams so that could mean a lot of second chance points for the a Wildcats. On offense Providence will have to battle Kentucky’s length and not allow themselves to get intimidated down low. Kadeem Batts struggled last season and it appeared to affect him for a couple games after being blocked repeatedly by Willy Cauley-Stein and others last season.
I think Providence keeps this game reasonably close for awhile but eventually Kentucky pulls away and wins by 15+. LaDontae Henton will likely be keyed on by John Calipari so Henton may struggle to get any open looks in this one.
Prediction: Providence 63 Kentucky 78
Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917
About Author
