They’re tenacious. They’re efficient. They’re on the hunt for perfection. This March Madness, no one is safe from…the Kentucky Wildcats!
*Insert maniacal laughter from John Calipari here*
All horror movie-style jokes aside, Kentucky has looked to be in a league all their own this basketball season. After advancing to the Elite 8 after a 78-39 beat down of West Virginia in which the Mountaineers never came close to even competing with the Wildcats, there has been one question on the minds of everyone watching college basketball.
Can anyone stop Kentucky?
It’s hard to imagine anyone is going to have an easy time stopping a team that is currently at or near the top of Division-1 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Wildcats average about 75 points per game, 38.2 rebounds per game, and allow only 53.5 points per game with just under 7 blocks per game.
At one point during the Sweet 16 game against West Virginia, Kentucky had more blocks (6) than West Virginia had made field goals (5).
The 39 points Kentucky allowed in the matchup are the fewest allowed in a Sweet 16 game, ever. And, it’s also the first time that one team has doubled-up another in a Sweet 16 game.
Basically, Kentucky is stupid amounts of good.
“That’s the best defensive team I think that I’ve ever coached against,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “And when they’re making shots, there’s nobody going to beat them.”
“You can’t stop something that’s destined,” West Virginia forward Devin Williams said.
Kentucky is a team that can attack you offensively from anywhere on the court, and has a suffocating defense that operates with a single mind.
With only three more chances for teams to stop their road to perfection, and Kentucky making teams look like they don’t belong in the same arena as them during the month of March, it’s hard to imagine anything getting in their way of achieving the goal of a championship.
So, can anyone stop Kentucky? Based on what we’ve seen to date, the answer so far is absolutely not!
Kentucky’s next game will be against Notre Dame on Saturday night at 8:49pm.