For Kentucky basketball, the schedule ceases to be an E-Z pass right about now. After seven straight home games against seven inferior opponents produced seven straight victories, the 10th-ranked Cats brace for a battery of tests.
First comes a Saturday road trip to South Bend for a meeting with Notre Dame. Dec. 18 brings a Las Vegas matchup with No. 21 Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic. Last but not least, archrival Louisville visits Rupp Arena on Dec. 22.
Are John Calipari's Cats ready?
We shall see, but three things worry me.
Is Oscar Tshiebwe going it alone?
The 6-foot-9 center from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been the action hero of UK's first month. Tshiebwe is averaging 15.3 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. The latter leads the nation. His seven double-doubles are tied for first nationally with Fardaws Aimaq of Utah Valley and Justin Bean of Utah State. (New Utah state motto: Home of the Double-Doubles.)
UK's big fella could use some help from his friends, however. In Kentucky's 76-64 victory over Southern on Tuesday, starting forward Keion Brooks managed one rebound in 20 minutes. Brooks scored two points on three shots. Kellan Grady, a 6-5 swingman, played 35 minutes without securing a rebound. Brooks is averaging 4.6 rebounds on the season; Grady 1.1.
Reserves Jacob Toppin and Daimion Collins are trying to fill in the gaps. Toppin grabbed six rebounds and blocked four shots in his 21 minutes Tuesday. Calipari praised the junior's energy. Collins contributed eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in his 16 minutes. Toppin is battling a shoulder injury. Collins is a 200-pound freshmen. Fellow reserve Lance Ware, a 6-9 sophomore, has been hindered by a sore ankle.
What if Tshiebwe finds himself in foul trouble? What then? UK's second-leading rebounder to this point: Freshman guard TyTy Washington at 4.9 per game.
Is this team still too loose with the basketball?
Last year's Cats went on routine giving sprees. They ranked 217th nationally in turnover percentage on the way to 9-16. Not good. This year's edition has improved that ranking to 138. Better, but far from great. And last year's team had played much tougher competition to this point.
New point guard Sahvir Wheeler, the transfer from Georgia, is an obvious upgrade. In fact, the New Yorker leads the nation in assists per game at 8.4. (Morehead State's Ta'lon Cooper is second nationally at 7.2). But Wheeler has also turned the ball over 27 times, including five times Tuesday night against Sean Woods' Jaguars. Wheeler's average of 3.4 turnovers per game is an improvement over his 4.4 last year in Athens, but the competition is about to get tougher.
True, it's early. As is the norm with a Calipari team, various Cats are still learning how to play with various Cats. Cal himself could use a white lab coat while conducting his lineup experiments. The coach said Tuesday decision time is near with regard to which players get which minutes. Once a firm rotation is set, the hope is increasing familiarity leads to a decreasing number of errors.
After eight games, do we really know about this team?
UK's 7-1 record deserves an asterisk. The Cats have played four opponents ranked in analytics guru Ken Pomeroy's 300s — Robert Morris at 304, Mount St. Mary's at 306, Albany at 312 and Central Michigan at 325. North Florida at 284 and Southern at 296 slipped under the 300-plus bar. The combined record of the six: 10-42.
Both Pomeroy and fellow numbers guru Jeff Sagarin rank Kentucky's strength of schedule at No. 354 out of 358 Division I teams. (Bellarmine is No. 1.) Considering the number of empty seats, Big Blue Nation has shown it shares that opinion of the Cats' slate to date.
That changes Saturday. Notre Dame is 3-4 and on a three-game losing streak, but Mike Brey's team is ranked 50th by kenpom. The Irish beat UK in Rupp last season. This time, Notre Dame will be at home, craving a keepsake win over a marquee name.
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