Huge challenge awaits Notre Dame as #8 Kentucky pays a visit
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
Notre Dame has a huge test Thursday night.
The Irish, 6-1 overall, entertain the defending national champions in John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats in the second annual SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. The game will tip at 7 p.m. and be televised by ESPN2.
It goes without saying that this is a game everyone associated with Notre Dame and its basketball program have been eagerly anticipating since it was announced.
“I think for a lot of people it’s our season opener,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “I think with what football has been doing, it’s very fitting now that the season opener comes with a six-week pause before the national championship football game.
“It’s going to be a fun night, a great atmosphere in our building with I think two very good teams going at it early in the season. For our players, it’s one they’ve talked about all summer.”
The Irish will face a UK team that lost six players to the NBA from last year’s 38-2 title team. Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist became the first set of teammates to be selected first and second overall in NBA Draft history. Other Kentucky draftees included Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Darius Miller.
The 2012-13 version of the Wildcats currently stands at 4-1 on the season with the only loss coming to Duke, 75-68, in Atlanta. UK is ranked eighth nationally in the polls.
As has become a yearly occurrence in Lexington, the Wildcats’ roster is dominated by youth.
Calipari landed America’s No. 1 recruiting last year according to Rivals.com and all four of those players are now starting or at the very least major contributors in the infancy stages of their collegiate careers.
Helping Notre Dame against Kentucky is its veteran lineup and of course playing in what will be an electric Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center as a sellout crowd of 9,149 will be on hand.
It will be UK’s first true road game of the season. Calipari isn’t exactly sure how his young Cats will handle a hostile environment.
“We don’t know what we are going to get from our guys,” said Calipari, who recently inked the top-rated recruiting class once again (the Class of 2013 could be one of the greatest recruiting hauls of all time when all is said and done). “It’s our first road game, first hostile environment, but I think this team from what I am seeing, what I know, and what I don’t know; it will be until February until we figure this out.
“I will be anxious to see how they respond.”
What Calipari does know is his team is loaded with talent at every position.
Freshman guard Archie Goodwin leads the way. He’s the reigning SEC Freshman-of-the-Week after tallying 25 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in wins over Morehead State and Long Island University.
Goodwin has scored in double figures in each of his first five collegiate games.
The 6-foot-7, 239-pound Alex Poythress is another superb rookie. He had two 20-point efforts to run his consecutive 20-point outings to four to become the first UK freshman to achieve the feat since Dwight Anderson in the 1978-79 season.
In UK’s last two wins, another freshman Nerlens Noel (6-10, 228 pounds) averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, dished out nine assists and had 11 blocks. Noel currently leads the team in rebounds (8.6 per game), steals (13 total in five games) and blocks (18 total, fifth in the country).
The other player averaging double digits in scoring is forward Kyle Wiltjer, a sophomore who is averaging 12.6 points per game.
The lone senior in Calipari’s expected starting lineup is Julius Mays, a Marion, Ind. native. The Wright State transfer leads the Cats with 22 assists on the year.
This is a Kentucky team that averaging 85.2 points per game (11th in the nation) and shoots the basketball very well (55.8 percent from the field, No. 1 in the NCAA).
One of Brey’s top concerns facing this Wildcat team is its size and length, especially in the paint.
“A really tough frontline beat us in New York,” said Brey, referring to St. Joseph’s, who knocked off the Irish in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic earlier this month. “Their (the Wildcats’) shooting percentages in the paint are off the charts.
“Keeping a body on people, not letting them get too deep, keeping them to one-and-done will be the ultimate challenge, but it’s similar preparation with what we see in the BIG EAST a lot of nights. We have to neutralize these bouncy, athletic, long frontlines. The nights we do it, we’re able to get out with a win. The nights it gets to us, we usually lose the game in the BIG EAST.”
Talent aside, Calipari knows his team better bring its A game to South Bend if its going to leave victorious.
“They (the Irish) shoot the ball well,” Calipari said. “They were 12-of-22 last game (from three). If they do that against us, we will be coming home with an L.
“They are very, very big, they have great size. They play a great zone. They spread the zone out, they try to play gaps and they do some things that we have not seen, so that will be interesting to see how we respond to that.
“They are a veteran team compared to us,” Calipari added. “They do well in that building. They are a good home team, so it will be a tough challenge.”
Brey hopes his team’s experience is a major factor in the game.
“Certainly if we’re going to be successful on Thursday night, our experience and our poise are going to have to play out and we’re going to have to be really good in that department for close to 40 minutes to beat the talent that they put out on the floor,” Brey said.
In fact, the Irish are so good at home they are 40-1 in their last 41 home games and 45-0 at home in the month of November under Coach Mike Brey.
After the Kentucky game, Notre Dame will have an usually long layoff for this time of year. The Irish won’t return to action until Dec. 8 when they host Brown.
NOTRE DAME NUGGETS
– Thursday will be a “blackout” at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center and the Irish will wear special black jerseys for the occasion.
– The television broadcast team includes Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Dick Vitale (analyst) and former Irish coach Digger Phelps (contributor).
– Notre Dame trails its all-time series against UK 42-18.
– The Irish have won 23 straight nonconference home games and are 64-1 in their last 65 non-league home contests.
– Notre Dame is 11-27 all-time against the defending national champions.
– Brey is 266-133 during his 13 seasons leading the Irish, including 16-23 against teams ranked in the top 10.
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