Last time out, Kentucky pulled out a 76-65 win against Texas Tech in Rupp Arena this past Friday in Rupp Arena. It was a game that, early, saw Kentucky struggle from three and getting the ball moving, but that changed in the second half, leading to a win over the #19 Red Raiders. Up next, the Wildcats will welcome UCF to Lexington on Wednesday.
Kentucky faced a Texas Tech team that was very experienced and that remains this week against a UCF team that features eight seniors and one fifth-year player in Riley Kugel, who Kentucky fans may remember from his time at Florida. Ahead of another test for the Wildcats before the start of the season, here is what you need to know about the Golden Knights.
UCF features a ton of size
Speaking of guys that Kentucky fans may be familiar with, former recruiting target John Bol is apart of this UCF squad, achoring the frontcourt at a height of 7-2. Along with him is the 6-9 Isaiah Malone. Both of them generated 13 rebounds as a duo in their 85-81 loss to LSU recently. For Kentucky, they'll need to tighten up in the rebounding department, which was a struggle against an undersized Texas Tech team. If they have similar results as Friday, that could spell some real trouble this time as it would extend possessions for an offense that loves to score.
The Knights love to shoot threes
Mark Pope has set the goal once again for his Wildcats to put up 30-plus threes a game. That's what this UCF team likes to do, as against LSU, they put up 32 threes on their way to scoring 81 points. In the first half against the Tigers, they shot 9-19 from three, but cooled off in the second, going just 2-13. They also didn't get to the free-throw line much, which is worth noting heading into this matchup. They love to shoot threes, so Kentucky's close-outs and rotations will need to be good against the Knights, or this one will be more competitive than it should on paper.
If Kentucky can find its rhythm on offense earlier and get the threes flowing and the ball moving, things should work out well for them on Wednesday, but they also can't let UCF get easy looks for three. Size and shooting describes this UCF team well, and Kentucky will need to keep that in mind heading into this one.
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