DSS: Kentucky vs Ole Miss

by JLeverenz on Feb 19, 2012 5:31 PM EST in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

Andy Lyons - Getty Images

3 months ago: LEXINGTON, KY - FEBRUARY 18: Darius Miller #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats defends the shot of Terrance Henry #1 of the Ole Miss Rebels during the game at Rupp Arena on February 18, 2012 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Click here for an explanation of how the DSS is charted and what the ratings and box score represent.

This was an odd game from a defensive perspective. For the game, the Kentucky Wildcats held the Ole Miss Rebels to 62 points on 66 possessions for a Defensive Efficiency of 93.9. That's not too far off their overall performance against the SEC entering the game (91.9 defensive efficiency) but the defensive effort was a bit uneven.

Early in the game the Cats were engaged, but even before Anthony Davis picked up his 2nd foul Ole Miss was starting to put together an effective offense behind the play of Terrence Henry. The Rebels executed against the press the Cats used against them to get some easy baskets and hit a few three points shots that were moderately contested, but mostly they were able to drive to the basket and get layups and dunks.

With Davis back on the floor for the second half, the Wildcats were back to their typically tough field goal defense as they held the Rebels to only 7 made shots and 15 total points in the first 12 minutes of the game. Once the Cats built a 20 point lead the defensive pressure relaxed somewhat although they didn't give up the kind of easy shots that South Carolina hit in the final minutes of the game at Columbia. Ole Miss hit 5 of their last 7 field goal attempts to make the score (and their FG%) look somewhat respectable, but by then the game was basically over.

On the good side, UK did a terrific job grabbing defensive rebounds and limiting 2nd chance opportunities. That helped counteract the worse-than-usual field goal defense. Everything else was pretty much what we've come to expect from the Cats this year.

Kentucky	Defense Box Score: Kentucky vs Mississippi
Name	Min	FGM	FGA	3PTM	3PTA	FTM	FTA	Def Rb	Blocks	TO	Steals	Points	Fouls
T. Jones	30	5.5	11	0	0	0	0	5	1	2.5	1	11
M. Kidd-Gilchrist	29	5.5	7.5	0	0	2	2	4	0	2.33	2	13	2
A. Davis	25	4	8	1	1	2	4	5	4	1.33	1	11	2
D. Lamb	32	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.5	0	2	2
M. Teague	31	3	8	2	4	1	2	2	0	1	1	9	3
D. Miller	29	3	8	0	0	2	4	1	1	1.34	2	8	2
J. Polson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0
T. Beckham	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0
E. Vargas	2	0	0	0	0	2	2		0	0	0	2	1
B. Long	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0
K. Wiltjer	19	1	4.5	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2
Undefended	40	2	5	0	0	0	0	3		1		4

Totals	200	25	53	3	5	9	14	22	6	12	7	62	12

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a tough assignment on Terrance Henry this game. His defense was actually not all that bad as he was in position on every shot and never got lost on screens or in traffic. Henry is just a good player who had a good game.
Darius Miller was the other player to take a turn on Henry and he was generally more effective at forcing him to take long jump shots. Darius did get lost going the wrong way around a screen which allowed Henry to get a wide open dunk in the first half.
Doron Lamb does not have a big line, but he spent most of the day chasing Nick Williams around. Williams was leading Ole Miss in scoring in conference play but was held to just 8 points on 7 shot attempts, 4 of those points came in the final minutes after the outcome had been decided. He never got going and Lamb deserves some credit for that.

Kentucky	Four Factors				Ratings
Name	Opp eFG%	Opp TO%	FTRate	DRb%	Stops	Scores	Plays	Stop%	DPoss%	Def Rtg	Opp Eff
K. Wiltjer	22.2	22.3	0.0	7.8	3.5	1.0	4.5	0.78	0.14	86.7	44.7
T. Jones	50.0	19.9	0.0	24.7	7.1	5.5	12.6	0.56	0.25	91.6	87.4
Undefended	40.0	18.0	0.0	11.1	3.6	2.0	5.6	0.64	0.08	91.9	72.0
M. Teague	50.0	12.2	25.0	9.6	4.8	3.5	8.2	0.58	0.16	92.0	109.4
D. Miller	37.5	15.0	50.0	5.1	5.0	4.0	8.9	0.56	0.19	92.4	89.5
D. Lamb	100.0	55.5	0.0	4.6	1.7	1.0	2.7	0.63	0.05	92.8	74.0
J. Polson	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	93.9	0.0
T. Beckham	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	93.9	0.0
B. Long	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.00	93.9	0.0
A. Davis	56.3	13.2	50.0	29.6	5.1	5.0	10.1	0.51	0.24	94.2	109.0
M. Kidd-Gilchrist	73.3	21.4	26.7	20.4	4.4	6.5	10.9	0.41	0.23	98.7	119.4
E. Vargas	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.00	0.29	122.7	210.5

Totals	50.0	18.2	26.4	81.5	35.1	29.3	64.4	0.55			93.9

A nice game for Kyle Wiltjer who did a good job staying in front of his man and giving help on drives by getting in between the ball and the basket, forcing jump shots instead of layups.
I thought Marquis Teague had trouble staying in front of Jalen Kendrick a lot of times. He never really got beat, but he seemed to always be scrambling to stay on his guy. Overall he had good results, but it wasn't his best game recently.
Another all around good game for Terrence Jones who defended Murphy Holloway for most of the game.

0 recs | 7 comments

Comments

MKG

Kidd-Gilchrist seems to rise to the occasion in “big” games, i.e., Louisville, North Carolina, Florida. Vanderbilt was the exception. However, in other games, his performance doesn’t seem to be at the same level, like this one. I noticed that both he only got one foul (and Davis never fouled again) after the first half two fouls made him sit.

jdogblue - February 19, 2012 reply

Maybe

I also submit that it is more likely that we remember performances in big games than if the same performance occurs against LSU or South Carolina. This wasn’t his best game to be sure, but I’m reluctant to connect that to the significance of the game.

JLeverenz - February 20, 2012 reply

Did not think about the rebounds and limiting second chances...

…a very good point: they are the second best rebounding team in the conference, correct?

Dan Harris - February 19, 2012 reply

they are

Which was really odd because it did not look to me like Ole Miss really went after their own missed shots. They seemed to be content to let a couple of guys stick around for rebounding while everyone else got back.

JLeverenz - February 20, 2012 reply

Ole Miss

is an interesting study as a team. They have size. athletic ability, and have talent. They used their size to score in the paint against the Cats, once Davis sat.

They do not work hard on defense and this has been their downfall all season. UK ran their offense at will and we were quite efficient.

Once TJ, Darius, and Kyle figured out their defensive assignments, Ole Miss stopped scoring inside and, of course, Davis was back in the game he 2nd Half. Out rebounding the Rebs was a very positive sign. Their strength all season has been rebounding and we beat them at their own game.

We took Ole Miss’s best shot and scored a double-digit win. I don’t know what the heck is going on in Oxford, but, this Ole Miss team is much better than their record. This is a NCCAT team that will be going to the NIT….that is a shame because they “had” the potential for an outstanding season. Kennedy should be on the hot seast.

Go BIG Blue!!

seattlekat - February 20, 2012 reply