The defense is finally becoming respectable.
Coming off of yet another disastrous defensive performance against Texas last Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats needed to respond in a big way for a must-win game against Vanderbilt in order to keep their heads above .500 in conference play for now.
After giving up 40 points in the first half and being out-rebounded by five against an undersized Vanderbilt squad, Mark Pope’s squad responded in the second half by allowing just 21 points in the final 20 minutes, with the ‘Dores shooting just 40% from the field and 20% from behind the arc for the entire game.
Rebounding did leave a lot to be desired from the Wildcats, however, although they did even up the margin with Vandy in the second half by out-rebounding them by five for a 30-30 split on the boards.
All told, Kentucky’s once porous defense has become respectable over the last month.
KenPom, which already has the Wildcats ranked fifth in offensive efficiency, now has them ranked 69th in defensive efficiency. It’s not great, but it’s still a big improvement from being in the 100s for much of the season.
EvanMiya has the Wildcats ranked 54th defensively.
BartTorvik currently has Kentucky ranked 89th in defensive efficiency. However, since February 8th, when the Cats blew out South Carolina, BartTorvik has the Wildcats ranked 14th in defensive efficiency.
Kentucky will look to prove that defensive rise is legitimate on Saturday when they take on an Alabama team that scored 102 points in Rupp Arena.