By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
A year following a season filled with lofty expectations, things are back to normal for fifth-ranked Kentucky.
“Last year we were trying to win every game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said Friday. “I believe we could have and I believe that’s what we all thought. This year is like a typical year here — how do we get this team ready for March? The only way is to play people like (Arizona State), learn, step out and then go back and work on it. This is a normal year, this is not last year — let’s win every game by 20.”
The Kentucky coach expects another battle against Arizona State Saturday at Rupp Arena. Calipari said the Sun Devils’ are experienced in the post and have size at all five positions, creating potential matchup problems for the Wildcats.
“This game is a perfect game for us,” Calipari said. “It’s exactly what we need. They attack the glass, they’re tough, physical and they will execute.”
Another concern for Calipari is Arizona State’s overall experience and added the Sun Devils “fight and battle” on every possession and will force Kentucky to play defense for more than “15 to 18 seconds.”
“We’ve got the most inexperienced team in the country and we’re playing one of the most experienced teams in the country — juniors and seniors — and that’s who we’re going against,” Calipari said. “This is a great challenge (and) a hard game to win for us. We’re going to have to play better than the way we’ve been playing. We may not be capable of that yet.”
One of Kentucky’s top issues has been outside shooting. The Wildcats have made just 39 of 142 shots from long range this season. Despite the struggles behind the arc, freshman guard Isaiah Briscoe isn’t concerned and is convinced Kentucky will eventually turn the corner.
“Once we do start making our shots, we’ll be even better,” Briscoe said.
Former Duke standout Bobby Hurley has Arizona State off to a 6-2 start in his first season at the helm and has the Sun Devils poised to make a run for the Pac-12 title.
“He’s letting them play,” Calipari said. “They space the court (and) do a lot of pick-and-roll actions. Their fours and fives shoot balls. They’re just playing. They should be 8-0. They had Marquette beat, they were up 10 with three or four minutes to go. Marquette should have never beat them. Then they lost to Sacramento State the first game of the year and I imagine (Hurley) was ready to jump off a bridge.”
It will be the second straight year a Hurley-coached team will play in Lexington. A year ago, Hurley’s Boston squad suffered a 71-52 setback to the Wildcats, but Calipari said the two teams are different and Hurley has more weapons on his current squad.
“Some of the offense is the same, but the players are different,” Calipari said. “This is an NCAA Tournament team. They’re far (more) advanced than us. This is a junior and senior team. They’re a good team.”
Regardless of the outcome, Calipari said the Sun Devils will provide an early measuring stick for his young squad.
“This is going to be a really hard game, but it’s what we need,” Calipari said. “We need to find out, where are we? How do we take it to where we are to where we’re trying to go, which is the next step.”
Game tracker: Arizona State at Kentucky, 3:15 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com