Kentucky Basketball: Were Backcourt Issues Exposed in Hard-Fought Win vs. Texas?

Kentucky's platoon system continues to win the war, but its backcourt garrison is showing some battle scars.

As much as the Wildcats frontcourt struggled in Friday's 63-51 win over Texas, it was nothing compared to how poorly their guards performed. And while the collective 4-of-27 performance didn't end up costing Kentucky this time, it has the potential to be a weakness that no amount of player shuffling can fix.

With the size that Kentucky has on the outside, this shouldn't be a group that just roams the three-point line and waits to heave one, but that's what we saw Friday.

Starters Aaron and Andrew Harrison combined for seven points on 3-of-17 shooting, making one of eight three-pointers. Second-unit guards Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis were no better, with Ulis hitting the only basket between them on 10 shots with four combined missed threes.

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"Kentucky's guards couldn't throw the ball in the ocean," wrote John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

It wasn't a foul-trouble issue, as Kentucky dealt with in the frontcourt. No guard had more than two fouls. It wasn't because of Texas' defense on the perimeter, because the Longhorns were without injured guard Isaiah Taylor.

The looks were there for the guards, yet the shots didn't fall. And many weren't even close.

It was a matter of settling rather than setting the tone, which doesn't make sense when the Harrisons and Booker are all 6'6" and are capable of overpowering most perimeter defenders with their size and strength. Ulis is tiny but quicker than pretty much everyone else on the court, yet he seemed allergic to the lane.

How glaring was this? In a game with 51 fouls called and 61 free throws attempted, Kentucky's forwards and centers took all 32 of the team's free throws.

"One of the strengths of the team are our guards," coach John Calipari said afterward. "Andrew and Aaron (Harrison), what they did last year, what they're doing now, and now Tyler (Ulis) and Devin (Booker), and they didn't make a shot today. I want these guys to work on their games and then go do it in the game."

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Prior to Friday, this hadn't been an issue, mostly because there hadn't been a need for the guards to step up. They just did so, without prompting, because opponents were so focused on stopping the inside game they had no answer for defending outside.

Entering the Texas game, the four Kentucky guards were shooting a combined 46.2 percent afield and 39.3 percent from three-point range. They also were as much a part of the defensive pressure as the frontcourt, but against the Longhorns, they also got exposed as far as how they manned up.

Texas' Demarcus Holland was able to drive past them and get to the rim, leading to five foul shots. They didn't respond by doing the same, settling for jumpers and little movement with or without the ball.

Spotting up for open threes works great when the defense has collapsed inside, but it shouldn't be the only option. This group needs to be driving and dishing, forcing the issue rather than being one-dimensional with its offensive contributions.

Some of Kentucky's best offensive bursts Friday came when the guards dictated, rather than deferred, but it didn't happen enough. Whether they were scared to mix it up inside with all that size, or were too in awe of the NBA-level post play, the Wildcat guards were bystanders more than participants.

The week ahead provides two easy games for Kentucky's guards to tweak their approach, first against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday and then Columbia on Wednesday. Eastern Kentucky allows opponents to shoot 41.4 percent from three-point range, so that will require the Wildcats backcourt to choose not to settle for that and instead make that a part of its game plan.

If improvement doesn't happen soon, it may not later, not with an upcoming gauntlet against No. 12 North Carolina, UCLA and No. 5 Louisville before SEC play begins.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.