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Kentucky looks like it will be an unholy terror on defense

The combination of length and a bunch of aggressive guys who appear to take great pride in it will make these Kentucky Wildcats hard to score against.

Willie Cauley-Stein - photo by Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

Willie Cauley-Stein – photo by Walter Cornett | WildcatWorld.com

This isn't breaking news, given that has seven players 6-8 or taller on the roster, but the first thing that jumps out is this team's incredible size. And that's without 6-10 freshman Trey Lyles and 7-foot junior Willie Cauley-Stein. They're both sitting out the Bahamas trip while recovering from injuries that aren't expected to cost them any of the actual season. Even without them, anything that goes inside is getting seriously contested, at minimum.

* On a related note, Kentucky looks like it will be an unholy terror on defense. The combination of length and a bunch of aggressive guys who appear to take great pride in it – there was lots of wild clapping and cheering among themselves after stops – will make these Cats hard to score against. On both ends, the team looks unusually cohesive, especially in the Calipari era of perpetually young teams, at this early stage. It's easy to see they'll be light years ahead of last year's team when this season starts.

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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