Kentucky basketball has to get more consistent to win a National Championship

If Kentucky can clean up a few things this will be a special season.
Jan 7, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope on the sidelines against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Jan 7, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope on the sidelines against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
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It has been an up-and-down season for the Kentucky Wildcats that has included some massive wins and ugly losses. At times, the Wildcats have played up and down to competition. This is why Mark Pope's team has four top 15 wins and three unranked losses.

It is excellent that Kentucky always seems to show up against elite teams, but they need to start playing a more consistent brand of basketball if the Wildcats are going to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky has been reliant on the three-ball falling this season, and when it does the Wildcats don't lose. Kentucky averages 5.7 made threes per game in their three losses and 11.2 made threes in their 13 wins.

It's not rocket science that a team does well when they shoot the ball at a high clip, and they do poorly when shots don't fall. What helps eliminate this as an issue are things like physicality, rebounding, hustling for 50/50 ball, and playing hard defense.

Kentucky has struggled at these aspects of the game, even in victories, and this needs to improve if they want to make a run. Winning the six games in a row, it will take to win it all isn't likely if this team purely relies on shooting the three ball.

Coach Pope and this team, over the next two months, need to work on the little things because these are what will give the Wildcats an upper hand over the competition. The good news is Kentucky has time to get better before the postseason rolls around.


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