The Kentucky Wildcats quickly dismantled Stony Brook in their first round matchup, setting up a massive showdown against their longtime rival and fellow college basketball power Indiana Hoosiers. Many think this game is a toss up, but we aren't convinced. Here are three reasons why Kentucky is guaranteed to beat Indiana today:
3) Kentucky's hot streak
The Wildcats are now healthy and it's paying off. UK now won six straight games and 11 of their last 13 overall - and both of those losses came in extremely close contests on the road against NCAA Tournament teams (Vanderbilt, Texas A&M). The Wildcats are still a fairly young team (Alex Poythress is the only senior getting notable minutes), but they've matured as the season has gone on and are peaking at the right time.
2) Coaching advantage
Since Calipari took over the Wildcats in 2009, Kentucky has made the Final Four in every year but two - one of which was an Elite 8 loss to West Virginia in 2009, and the other was the NIT year in 2013.
Let that sink in for a second. That's five straight NCAA Tournament appearances resulting in Elite 8 berths, the last four of which were Final Four appearances. Calipari knows what it takes to win in the biggest games of the season, and there's no reason to think he won't have this group ready for their close-up against the Hoosiers..
1) Tyler Ulis > Yogi Ferrell
Ulis is arguably the best point guard in the country because of the way he’s able to dictate the flow of an entire game - even though he’s just 5’9”. After backing up the Harrison twins last year, Ulis has taken the keys to Kentucky’s offense and run with it.
A break from head coach John Calipari’s usual “share the wealth” mentality, Kentucky wants the ball to be in Ulis’ hands as much as possible, relying on him to create open shots for himself and for others. He knows he can get any shot he wants whenever he wants, but he is even better at getting his teammates involved, ranking sixth in the country in assists. More impressively, his assist to turnover ratio is nearly 4:1.
While Ferrell is mostly just an offensive weapon, Ulis is deadly on both ends of the floor - shown by him winning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Expect him to hold Ferrell to a lackluster shooting night while leading Kentucky to a victory.
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