LSU and Kentucky each came into the Big 12/SEC Challenge last weekend in very different spots. LSU’s NCAA Tournament resume was already on thin ice, with only a home win over those Wildcats on which to hang its hat. A win over top-ranked Oklahoma would certainly change that. Kentucky found itself in the rare position of needing to prove that it can win on the road in a game where virtually nobody thought it could (at Allen Fieldhouse). After a pair of close-but-no-cigar losses, both teams can hold their heads high about their performances, but it was the Big 12 stars who we are still talking about this week. Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield and Kansas’ Wayne Selden had outstanding individual performances that propelled their teams to victory. In this edition of Freeze Frame, we focus on how LSU allowed Hield to get loose and how Kentucky lost contact with Selden.
Jamal Murray is great with the ball in his hands, but he struggled defending Wayne Selden in Lawrence on Saturday (photo credit: Mark Zerof, USA Today).
ESPN branded the matchup between LSU and Oklahoma as a battle between Ben Simmons and Hield, and neither like All-American disappointed. It was Hield, however, who proved once again that he is college basketball’s brightest star, waiting to explode after his team had fallen behind by 14 points in Baton Rouge. Seven of Hield’s eight three-pointers came in the second half on his way to 32 points, eventually leading the Sooners to a big-time comeback win over the Tigers.
In the first frame below, you can see that Oklahoma sets up with good spacing. Isaiah Cousins goes to work in a one-on-one situation with Jordan Woodard and Hield is lined up on the perimeter for the kickout. LSU’s Tim Quarterman is checking Hield.
Isaiah Cousins goes to work.
Cousins misses the pull-up jumper, but LSU is so focused on the defensive rebound that all three perimeter defenders collapse into the lane. This puts all five Tigers in the paint. The shot goes long off the rim, giving Oklahoma’s Ryan Spangler an opportunity to tip the ball back out.
All five LSU defenders collapse.
Spangler tips it to Woodard, who is a 53 percent three-point shooter. Quarterman, Keith Hornsby and Craig Victor all run out to get a hand up, leaving a two-on-one situation in the post with Simmons defending.
LSU respects Woodard’s perimeter shooting.
Woodard feeds Spangler, who quickly kicks out to the wide-open Hield. Quarterman has taken himself completely out of the play by defending Woodard, so only Hornsby is close enough to make a last-ditch effort to get a hand up on Hield.
The guy you really don’t want to leave open from the outside.
In the second set of plays from this game, LSU is up two with under two minutes to play. Quarterman is guarding Hield, while Cousins has the ball out top initiating the offense.
Cousins has the ball on the perimeter with Hield looking to make a cut.
Cousins drives on Victor toward a congested lane. For some reason, Quarterman leaves Hield to help on Cousins, leaving the current front-runner for the NPOY award to circle the perimeter uncontested.
Hield makes a beeline for the open spot on the floor.
Hield is left wide-open for a his seventh three of the game, this one coming at a crucial point. Quarterman is far too late in finding the open Hield, giving him plenty of time to knock this one down.
Hield for three!
Switching gears to the other marquee game of the day, Kentucky controlled Kansas well into the second half, leading by as many as eight points with just under 14 minutes to go. That was before Selden took over the game. The junior Jayhawk finished with a career-high 33 points, as Wildcat defender Jamal Murray lost track of him time and time again.
Murray is not a bad defender by any stretch, but he is a freshman and made several freshmen mistakes. In the first frame, Murray gives Selden way too much room on the perimeter.
Murray tries to take away the outside shot in a hurry.
Murray tries to close out, but in doing so he allows Selden to blow past him with a sidestep to the baseline. Alex Poythress did an excellent job in fronting Perry Ellis in the post, keeping him mostly uninvolved in the offense. In this instance, however, Poythress was anticipating the entry pass, therefore in poor position to help Murray with the driving Selden.
The baseline is wide open for Selden’s drive.
Poythress eventually makes it to the baseline, but by the time he works his way around Ellis, he is late. With Skal Labissiere and Marcus Lee on the bench, Kentucky’s help defenders can only watch as Selden rises into the lane.
Kentucky’s defenders can’t do much as Selden goes to the rim.
Later, with the game on the line in the final minute, Ellis and Selden hand off the ball at the top of the key.
We are looking at a simple hand off play with Ellis and Selden at the top of the key.
Kentucky normally switches on screens there, so it looks like Poythress is set to follow Selden and Murray to follow Ellis. Suddenly, however, Murray appears to have a change of heart, giving up on Ellis and heading back to find Selden.
Murray starts to go with Ellis, but appears to panic and head back to Selden.
Ellis hands it off to Devonte Graham. Poythress then sees Murray coming back for Selden so he looks to find Ellis. Murray hesitates, and by this time Graham has located the wide-open Selden for an unchallenged three in the corner.
A miscommunication proves costly for the Cats.
It is hard to be exactly sure what was supposed to happen here defensively for the Wildcats, but the miscommunication was costly. In the long run, though, it is important to learn from a defensive breakdown in January so that it doesn’t happen again in the NCAA Tournament. Both LSU’s Quarterman and Kentucky’s Murray had difficulty containing Hield and Selden, who went off for big nights. But that’s why the Big 12/SEC Challenge was so beneficial for these two teams in particular. LSU and Kentucky faced two of the best teams and individual players in America, and the Tigers and Wildcats will be better teams in March because of it.