John Calipari calls South Carolina men’s basketball the best defensive team in the SEC
Minutes after South Carolina basketball throttled No. 6 Kentucky, 79-62, igniting a raucous court-storming, longtime Wildcats coach John Calipari had no trouble finding positive words about the team he’d just faced.
“They’re the best defensive team in our league,” Calipari said of the Gamecocks. “And that’s saying something.”
Kentucky came into Colonial Life Arena scoring more points per game (91.6) than any team in the nation — the Gamecocks limited UK to two-thirds of that.
Before Tuesday, the Wildcats had scored at least 87 points against every SEC team they’d faced.
“South Carolina was bum-rushing us,” Calipari said. “They did a great job. They came in knowing what they were going to do physically.”
Despite boasting two five-star big men — 6-8 forward Justin Edwards (2 pts) and 7-1 forward Aaron Bradshaw (4 pts) — Kentucky could not stifle South Carolina in the paint.
“They’re a veteran team,” Calipari said. “There was a lot of stuff where we were just saying, ‘Let’s go pick-and-roll.’ And they were physical, so now when you went into a pick-and-roll, the guard came up and jammed you a little and the big would do his thing.”
Calipari continued: “They mucked up the game that way. They did a good job.”
Also helping matters: South Carolina shot 50% from beyond the arc including four triples from Jacobi Wright (14 pts).
“Wright really hurt us,” Calipari said. “We knew he could shoot, but when you do what he was doing — 4 for 7 — I don’t know what he is on the year, but that’s 55% from 3.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 10:53 PM.
