Why UCLA-Kentucky will be the most entertaining college hoops game all season
The college basketball season is less than a month old, meaning it’s probably a wee bit early to make any major, sweeping judgments. Teams change, coaches evolve (or devolve) and injuries happen between now and March, meaning what you see on the court now isn’t necessarily what you’ll get by the time the season concludes.
However, I am comfortable saying this: Saturday’s game between No. 11 UCLA and No. 1 Kentucky will be the most entertaining game of the college basketball season. If you’re a casual NBA fan or just a guy or gal who don’t generally watch college hoops before March, this is the one game you absolutely have to see.
For starters, doesn’t “UCLA and Kentucky” just sound big. It’s one of those games, kind of like hearing “Alabama vs. Penn State” in football, or “Lakers-Celtics” or “Cowboys-Redskins” that just feels important, regardless of how good either team is. The fact that these two teams have a little recent history – the Wildcats blitzed UCLA 83-44 during their historically great 2014-2015 season, only to see the Bruins beat them at Pauley Pavilion last year – only adds to the effect.
On Saturday, we aren’t just getting a matchup of two “name” programs. It’s also a matchup of two of the best teams in college basketball this season.
We all kind of know what we’re getting from the Wildcats. Take a few veterans everyone knows by now and mix in a couple of dynamic, one-and-done freshmen, and by the beginning of March, you’re almost certainly going to have a national championship contender. This is now year eight of the John Calipari experience at Kentucky and none of us expect anything less.
However, it is a little different in Lexington this year, and it starts with the freshmen. While Calipari always brings in good players, this group of five freshmen might be the best blend of talent, depth and mental toughness he’s ever had. Just looking at the stat sheet bears it out as the Wildcats have a different freshmen leading them in points (shooting guard Malik Monk), rebounds (power forward Bam Adebayo) and assists (De’Aaron Fox). That’s kind of mind-boggling, especially at a school that is currently ranked No. 1 in the country.
But that’s the norm this year at Kentucky, where the three – along with forward Wenyen Gabriel – have been the backbone of the Wildcats, with veterans Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis battling injuries earlier this season. It hasn’t seemed to faze the young guys, with Monk and Fox providing two of the best performances we’ve seen anywhere in college hoops this year. Monk put up 23 points (including seven 3-pointers) in the Wildcats’ win over Michigan State on Nov. 15, while Fox tallied just the second triple-double in school history earlier this week. Monk might also be the most electric athlete in the sport as well .(Don’t believe me? Click here. Or here.)
What’s different about this game, though, isn’t just that Kentucky is good (it always is). Instead, it's that UCLA is one of the few teams that can virtually match the Wildcats player-for-player in the talent department. Prior to the season, a source within the program told me that the team had seven or eight guys on its roster who NBA scouts seriously believe can play at the next level, a number that no one outside of Kentucky and Duke can top this season.
While it’s nice talking about the group as a whole with UCLA, this season has really been about one player: freshman Lonzo Ball, a spectacular point guard who might just be the best story in college basketball. Last year’s Naismith High School Player of the Year has taken a team that went 15-17 a season ago and completely flipped it on their head, helping the Bruins to an 8-0 start.
If you haven’t seen Ball play yet this season, the one thing that stands out is his passing. As coach Steve Alford told me prior to the season, Ball is one of those rare guys (Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox is the same way) who doesn’t care about personal stats as long as his team wins. That has been the case early this season as Ball is just the Bruins' fourth-leading scorer. But then, of course, there are the assists. He is averaging 9.6 per game this season -- that doesn’t just lead UCLA, it leads all of college basketball.
And what’s so fun to watch with Ball is how his role as a point guard has allowed his teammates to do what they do best. Bryce Alford no longer has to handle the ball, and instead can focus on coming off screens and hitting open jumpers (which he has, averaging 15.5 points per game this year). Isaac Hamilton and Aaron Holiday add points from the wing with fellow freshman big man T.J. Leaf averaging 17.3 popints per game, and Thomas Welsh – who tallied 21 points in a win over the Wildcats last year – hitting double figures as well.
Want some incredible numbers on UCLA? Not only does Ball lead the nation in assists, but the trickle-down effect has been felt across the team. As a group, the Bruins average 24.8 assists a game, by far the most in the country. They also have the second-highest 3-point percentage in college basketball, making nearly 47 percent -- a staggering number when you consider that they shoot almost 24 per game.
So, here’s what you’ll have Saturday at Rupp Arena: two of the most explosive offenses in college basketball in a game in which the winning team will probably score 90 or more points (the losing team, too). No fewer than a dozen guys on the floor (and probably more) will play in the NBA one day, with a few (Monk, Fox, Ball) who could become future All-Stars. Not to mention a pair of storied programs, playing in one of the sport’s truly iconic college hoops venues (Rupp Arena).
This might not be the “biggest” game of the year for either team (those will come in February and March), but it will be the most entertaining.
If you watch one game in college hoops this season, make it this one.
