Outside shots start falling for Kentucky in victory over North Carolina

One of the scariest aspects of Kentucky's unbeaten start is the Wildcats have dominated opponents without consistently hitting outside shots.

In Saturday's 84-70 victory over 21st-ranked North Carolina, the Wildcats showed how lethal they can be when those fall too.

Every weapon Kentucky has at its disposal was on display against the Tar Heels in a game in which the Wildcats shot 56.3 percent from the field, sank 7 of 15 threes and tallied assists on more than two-thirds their baskets.

Tyler Ulis sliced up North Carolina off the dribble and dished out eight assists to shooters open on the wing or big men free in the paint. Andrew Harrison also was effective off the dribble, handing out five assists and getting to the foul line 10 times. Devin Booker and Aaron Harrison hit a combined six threes and Willie Cauley-Stein was his usual opportunistic himself around the rim and on the offensive glass. About the only Kentucky player who didn't do much was Karl-Anthony Towns, but the Wildcats led by nine or more the entire second half even with him not attempting a single shot because everyone else was so effective. 

The scoring barrage from Kentucky had to be scary for the rest of the nation because the Wildcats had been winning mostly because of elite defense and offensive rebounding. They were shooting 27.7 percent from behind the arc coming into Saturday's game, enabling opposing defenses to pack the paint and invite Kentucky's perimeter players to bomb away from the perimeter.

There are several potential explanations for why Kentucky was so effective and efficient against a North Carolina defense ranked among the top 50 nationally in points per possession allowed entering Saturday's game.

Perhaps it was increased focus playing their first game since junior forward Alex Poythress tore an ACL in practice on Thursday. Maybe it was just a typical sign of maturity for a team trying to mesh four freshmen and five or six key returners. Or it could have been that the Wildcats were able to get in more of a rhythm because of the pace at which North Carolina played.

Since it's difficult to score in the paint against Kentucky's stable of shot-blocking 7-footers and the Tar Heels don't have any consistent 3-point shooters besides Marcus Paige, Roy Williams devised a simple strategy to combat that problem. He told his the Tar Heels to push the pace whenever possible in hopes of creating chances to score without facing Kentucky's set defense.

They ran off missed shots. They ran off made shots. They even pressed in stretches to try to speed up the game and create transition chances that way.

One outcome of that strategy was that North Carolina shot a very respectable 45 percent from the field and generated some transition layups and dunks. Another unintended consequence was that the Tar Heels got themselves so sped up trying to create fast-break opportunities that they committed 18 turnovers and gave up some easy baskets to Kentucky as a result.

What will be interesting to see is if Kentucky can be as effective offensively as it was Saturday against opponents who slow down the tempo rather than trying to increase it.

It's hard to beat the Wildcats when they're reliant on second-chance points on offense and struggling from the perimeter. It's even tougher when they're knocking down outside shots too.