Kentucky's improving...and Vandy's next
The Wildcats are finding a groove, but Vanderbilt is also on a hot streak.
Kentucky is 10-2 over their last 12 SEC games and are comfortable heading towards the NCAA Tournament, which is most certainly not what was assumed even 2 weeks ago. Vanderbilt is 6-1 in their last 7 SEC games and, while they won’t make the NCAA Tournament, they’re playing like that level of team over the last month.
From BartTorvik.com, here’s a snapshot of how SEC team performed in February:
And here’s the same snapshot for November through January:
Both Kentucky and Vanderbilt have improved their offense dramatically (UK from 38th to 3rd, Vandy from 68th to 6th) but seen their defenses drop off a bit. The interesting thing is that Kentucky has done this despite injuries to key rotation players (Wheeler, Fredrick) while Vanderbilt has done this as Liam Robbins returned from injury.
Some of what Kentucky has done to improve on offense seems very sustainable, but Vanderbilt presents some unique challenges (at least among SEC teams). Premium subscribers get access to my full analysis below, so sign up today!
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