In the mixed-up, muddled, shook-up world that is college basketball right now, it's nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff. Watered-down in talent, infused by chronic youth, every team looks good, none looks great. It's mid-December. Many miles to go until March.
It's under that backdrop that this eighth-ranked Kentucky team basketball heads to the desert for a pair of games this week amid the glitz of Las Vegas. First up is Utah on Wednesday night. Three days later in the CBS Sports Classic, the Wildcats face Ohio State, an early-season juggernaut that might well be sitting atop the AP college basketball poll following Monday's tabulations.
Once back home, and after Christmas, Louisville visits Rupp Arena for the annual UK-U of L battle, and in case you haven't noticed the Cardinals aren't bad this year _ last week's loss to Texas Tech in Madison Square Garden notwithstanding.
It's a whole new degree of difficulty than the battery of tests the Cats have faced to this point, even including the finger in the eye John Calipari's club took in that upset loss to Evansville.
Not every power conference member is a power, however. Georgia Tech was guilty as charged. Missing point guard Jose Alvarado (sprained ankle) and USC transfer Jordan Usher (not yet eligible), the Yellow Jackets were plucky enough to be competitive but not skilled enough to be a threat.
Down 44-41 with 13 minutes to play, the visitors had three straight chances to tie the score. Michael Devoe's three-pointer bounced over the backboard. Khalid Moore's three from the left corner spun out. Then another Devoe three kicked off the rim. At the other end, UK's Immanuel Quickley accomplished what the Jackets could not, i.e. make his three. "That was the game right there," said Tech Coach Josh Pastner after his team had lost by 14.
Truth be told, Tech was a tune-up for the trip west. Calipari hinted as much when he inserted Quickley into the starting lineup, making it a three-guard set, and admitting it was his preferred lineup from the start but wanted to experiment with his freshmen.
"I liked what I saw," said Cal afterward, and there was plenty to like. Ashton Hagans scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished seven assists. Quickley equaled his career-high of 16 points. And Tyrese Maxey made contributions on the boards and on defense to overcome the fact he has made one of 17 shots over the past two games.
Here's another thing: That guard trio of Hagans (43-for-49), Maxey (32-for-36) and Quickley (29-for-31) is a combined 104-for-116 from the free throw line for 89.7 percent. As a team, UK is making 79.8% of its free throws. That ranks eighth-best nationally. Stop the presses: John Calipari has a terrific free-throw shooting team.
"That's a big difference in games when it's a possession-by-possession game," Pastner, Calipari's former assistant at Memphis, said Saturday. "Being able to make those free throws, that's a big deal."
Possession-by-possession games is likely to be the norm moving forward. And we should note that UK is minus grad transfer Nate Sestina, out with a broken wrist. And EJ Montgomery has yet to exit the roller-coaster. After a career-high 25 points against UAB, he failed to score Saturday. Such things have to be factored into the evaluations.
Still, not bothered by the big stage in the Big Apple, when UK knocked off then No. 1-ranked Michigan State in the Champions Classic, the guess here is the Cats will take to the bright lights of Vegas. It's the reason these players signed on in the first place.
So this time next week we'll know a lot more about this Kentucky team, how it stacks up, where it might fit in all the college hoops uncertainty. It won't be a definitive answer, but it'll be a part of the equation. An important part.
