When Kentucky plays Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena on Tuesday, their second game of the season, they hope for a different outcome. The Wildcats lost the first game 74-69 in an unexpected fashion after turning the ball over 17 times, including seven in the final six minutes and 10 in the second half.
Going into the second round against the Commodores, Kentucky is definitely paying attention to it. The Wildcats want to improve in the areas that hurt them in Nashville a few weeks ago, especially defense against turnover. In an interview with the media prior to Wednesday’s game between Kentucky and Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena, Andrew Carr stated that if the team hopes to avoid the season sweep, ball protection will be crucial.
“You learn a lot by watching from the sidelines because I was unable to participate in the game. They made a concerted effort to be extremely defensive and hostile with us. We know that we need to defend the ball much better this game than we did the prior one and really use their aggression against them, especially offensively, because they force a lot of mistakes, such as getting out in transition. We must remain with them and try to rebound the ball since they are a very talented team on defense and have some extremely lethal shooters. We are most effective when we are attempting to get stops, rebound, and exit in transition.In that particular game involving Vandy, there were a few turnovers from both the frontcourt and the backcourt. It was more of a collective effort. Everyone bears responsibility when there are 17 turnovers.
Continue to concentrate on Vandy.
Since neither Lamont Butler nor Jaxson Robinson are anticipated to play this time, Kentucky is under much more pressure to defend the ball than they would if they had their two starting guards. Protecting the ball must be the first priority for a Kentucky team missing starting guards Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson. The Wildcats’ collapse in the final minutes of their game against Texas was mostly caused by turnovers, as they ended the game with 15 errors.
