Kentucky vs. Texas clash all about size
It's easy to be impressed with Kentucky, considering who the Wildcats have played in this young season so far.
That's not a statement meant to disparage the talent level of any of their opponents thus far — certainly not Kansas — but rather the size of their foes. Kentucky is the tallest team in college basketball, per KenPom, and the reason the Wildcats appear so imposing this season is their enormous front line. (… And then their second enormous front line in Platoon 2.)
Either way, the point is the top-ranked Wildcats hadn't played a team that could truly match up with their size and length — yet. That changes Friday, as Kentucky faces Texas at Rupp Arena.
There's Cameron Ridley, Texas' 6-9, 285-pound center. Connor Lambert, a 6-9 forward. And Jonathan Holmes, the 6-8 forward and team MVP to date. The Longhorns also have depth, particularly in that frontcourt, which features 6-10 junior Prince Ibeh and 6-11 highly touted freshman Myles Turner coming off the bench.
Now, the Longhorns will be without star point guard Isaiah Taylor, out with a wrist injury, but they'll still be the Wildcats' biggest — literally — test of the season so far.
"We've got size," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "They're big. We're big. We're a big team. Without Isaiah, they're probably bigger in the backcourt than us, but across the front line, I mean, it's probably pretty even across the board there. But we're going to need our guys. In a game like this, you've got to be playing at a very high level."
Maybe most headache-inducing, from a coaching standpoint, when facing a team like Kentucky is its depth. "You can say, 'We want to get this guy in foul trouble,' and then they'll bring somebody else," Barnes said.
It's funny, because that's what opponents have said about Texas. Last month, after the Longhorns torched California in New York, Bears center David Kravish described the Texas frontcourt this way: "It's like a five-or six-headed monster they've got. Cut off one, they bring three more at you. … I don't know if there's any front line in college that can match that."
The good news, if you're a college basketball fan, is that there is another front line that can match and maybe overpower the Longhorns'. And we get to see them go toe-to-toe Friday night.
"They fly up and down the court," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They've got good scorers. They have great length. They run good stuff. It's going to be a hard game for us."
Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison was asked if Friday's game would be similar to a scenario where the Wildcats were playing against themselves.
"I don't know about that," he said. "But they're big, they're talented, and it's going to be a tough game."
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