Sam Houston St. vs. Kentucky: Wildcats look to go 3-0 under Calipari

(Calipari and the Cats are in for another test Thursday/AP Photo:Ed Reinke)

If you witnessed Monday night’s game against Miami (OH), you’ll realize the importance of these early matchups for this young and inexperienced Kentucky Wildcats basketball program.

The Redhawks of Miami (OH) gave everyone in Rupp Arena and the state of Kentucky a scare two nights ago, as UK struggled to cement their status as the #5 team in all the land. With that said Kentucky squeaked a victory out and look forward to Thursday’s matchup against Sam Houston St.

Sam Houston State has been picked by many media outlets as the team to beat in the Southland conference. In essence, they are another team that shouldn’t be taken lightly even if the Big Blue Nation thinks Kentucky should blow them out by 25 points. Wasn’t that the thinking Monday night?

Not so fast my friend.

Much like Miami (OH), Sam Houston State stands to give Kentucky everything they can handle even if they aren’t experienced in playing the “glitzy” games that come travelling to Rupp Arena. The Bearkats have plenty of depth and solid guard play, something the Redhawks utilized in Monday night’s action. Starting point guard Ashton Mitchell is the leader of the Bearkats and also led the team with 6.9 assists/game last season. Fans can count on Mitchell being the pesky guard that will most likely be guarded by Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe seems to be Calipari’s “stopper” when it comes to defense, so don’t be surprised if Bledsoe is running wild through screens and picks, much like he was against Kenny Hayes and Miami (OH). Another Bearkats player to watch out for is Corey Allmond, a versatile guard who can light it up from three-point range.

Did you hear that Coach Cal? Allmond likes to shoot 3’s!

Calipari and company are going to have to watch out for opponents hoisting up as many threes against them as possible. With Kentucky’s size advantage over just about anyone they face this season, many teams are going to stretch it out and make UK play on the perimeter, thus having to guard the three-point shot more than they’d like.

Kentucky could be without several players for Thursday’s game. DeAndre Liggins hasn’t played in the first two seemingly due to team violations. Nothing official has been said other than Calipari hinting he wouldn’t throw any of his players under the bus. The other player is Darnell Dodson who also may have violated team rules and might have to sit out a game for doing so. One thing is certain. As the season progresses these things must be cleared up.

With what the Big Blue Nation saw on Monday, there should be zero expectations going into Thursday’s game. Every team Kentucky plays will switch it up and try to catch the Wildcats off guard. The Redhawks were an overtime period away from doing so. Will the Bearkats of Sam Houston State relive Miami’s near upset? We’ll just have to wait and see.