The Kentucky Wildcats continue to tread water on the defensive end of the floor. That was evident again in their 96-83 loss to Alabama, and allowing almost 100 points a game will rarely get the job done in college basketball.
The Wildcats failed to contain Crimson Tide star Mark Sears on Saturday. He blew up for a whopping 30 points on 8-of-17 from the floor, adding four rebounds and four assists.
Alabama shot 52.5% from the floor and 35.5% from three-point territory in the win. That’s why coach Mark Pope acknowledged that they needed to tighten things up on defense.
Mark Pope calls out Kentucky’s defense vs. Alabama
“Alabama is a terrific team and they put us in tough situations that we didn’t respond well to on the defensive end,” Pope said. “It’s a work in progress. This is growth, guys, we talk about this all the time. It’s fits and starts and this was not our best defensive performance tonight. Mark Sears had a lot to do with that and Alabama had a lot to do with that, and we had a lot to do with that.”
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope
The coach acknowledged that this was the worst time of the year to have defensive miscues. Even so, he still believes his team can get it together on that end of the floor.
“We’re getting down into the stretch run and us getting better on this end of the ball is something that we’re obsessing about and we’re determined to do. If we do it well, then we’re going to have a good stretch,” he added.
see also
25 highest-paid college basketball head coaches: Who earns the most?
The Wildcats are dealing with some key injuries right now, and it might be a while before their starting guards return, so it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust to fix these woes.
