The Kentucky Wildcats will battle Wake Forest tonight in a second round matchup that should be plenty entertaining to a primetime national TV audience.
Here are a few of the BBL’s thoughts on this game.
1) Wake Forest’s chances start and end with point guard Ish Smith. Smith, fresh off a game winning jumper to beat Texas in OT Thursday, is the playmaker and pace setter for the Demon Deacons. He is athletic and quick and should be a fine challenge for Kentucky’s young guards. Keep an eye on how he handles John Wall.
2) Eric Bledsoe was hot in UK’s 100-71 triumph over East Tennessee State Thursday. His eight for nine shooting from behind the arc paced the Cats. If he can keep up this kind of pace, UK will be tough to beat.
3) How will Kentucky’s bigs deal with Al Farouq Aminu? Aminu is an NBA player with a wide assortment of skills. He can shoot, get to the rack, post up and crash the boards. Seeing him battle Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins should be fun.
4) Kentucky could make a big statement if Wake Forest decides to run. The Demon Deacons have struggled on defense at times this year and if they attempt to push the tempo, they could be in for a long night.
5) The talent disparity here is not as vast as some may think. Wake has a good group of big and athletic ballers who will physically match up well with the Cats embarrassingly deep roster.
BBL’s Take
We think that Wake Forest, with its experienced backcourt and overall depth of quality talent, will stay close with Kentucky for much of this one. If they try to push the pace, we like UK’s ability to dominate in transition. If Kentucky is hitting perimeter jump shots, we think the Cats can end up winning by double figures. But if Wake slows it down and makes this a nip-tuck halfcourt game, we could be looking at another nail biter. Still, we’re saying Cats by 12.
