Kentucky Basketball: Will Tyler Ulis' Size Continue to Be an Issue in 2014-15?

Throughout high school, travel ball and the early stages of his Kentucky career, Tyler Ulis' size never got in the way. In fact, what the diminutive guard was able to accomplish despite usually being the smallest guy on the court was what made him such an exciting player to watch.

But during Tuesday's overtime win over Ole Miss, Ulis' proportions suddenly became a negative. The 5'9" freshman had seven assists in 23 minutes but scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting and was 0-of-4 from three-point range after coming in hitting 52 percent from outside.

Even more noticeable, though, was how little he was able to impact things on the defensive end, where he's excelled in several games this season. Kentucky coach John Calipari said as much after the 89-86 victory, telling Alex Forkner of CatsIllustrated.com that Ole Miss "took him right to the middle of the lane (and) just jumped over him."

Ole Miss consistently played three guards, with Ulis often matched up against Stefan Moody, who is listed as 5'10" but seemed to tower over Ulis. It was even worse when defending 6'3" Jarvis Summers, who had 23 points to go with Moody's 25.

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Kentucky was minus-16 when Ulis was on the court, and as a result, Ulis and his defensive skills were on the bench for the final 1:24 of regulation and all of overtime. Andrew Harrison, the Wildcats' starting point guard, played the final 13 minutes, while Devin Booker replaced Ulis late in the second half and made for a bigger three-guard lineup along with Aaron Harrison.

Ulis' size hadn't been a negative before this game, but odds are he's the player teams will try to pick on in an attempt to counter the Wildcats' height advantage nearly everywhere else on the court. The Ole Miss tape will get a lot of review from the rest of the SEC, starting with Saturday's opponent, Texas A&M.

A&M's point guard, Alex Caruso, is 6'5".

Ulis was coming off of his best game of the season, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 26 minutes at Louisville. He got extended playing time because both Harrisons were abysmal with their shooting, and Ulis was able to capitalize by bringing a different look (and not being too outsized by 5'10" Cardinals guard Chris Jones).

But offense isn't going to be what keeps Ulis on the court, not when Kentucky has so many weapons. It will be his ability to guard and disrupt, which means he and the Wildcats need to figure out how to manage his size and not make it a liability.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.