Kentucky Basketball: How Much Better Can the Wildcats Get in 2014-15?

Watching a Kentucky Wildcats basketball game in late February is the equivalent of watching a baseball game during the dog days of summer in July or August when the division race is all but over.

At this point, the Wildcats are just playing out the string, and it seems like a formality that they will finish the regular season with an undefeated record. That dominance was on full display during Saturday's 110-75 victory against the overmatched Auburn Tigers.

Six different Kentucky players finished in double figures in the scoring department, and two other players scored nine. It was the type of balanced offensive attack that could win this team a national championship, especially because it boasts the No. 1 defense in Ken Pomeroy's defensive efficiency rankings.

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Believe it or not, Saturday's blowout actually showed that there are still a few areas the Wildcats can improve on, which is a terrifying proposition for the rest of the country.

This may not be completely fair, because star players typically play well regardless of the opponent, but there have been a few instances lately when Kentucky has struggled to stop individual players on the defensive end.

Antoine Mason dropped 29 points on the Wildcats on Saturday and hit five of his six three-point attempts. He had far too many clean looks at the basket from deep and also penetrated to the basket far too easily on a number of occasions. He was even a difference-maker on defense with four steals.

Florida point guard Kasey Hill was able to control the tempo of the game as well from the perimeter in Kentucky's close victory over the Gators early in February. He scored 12 points, dished out six assists and only turned the ball over one time. That assist-to-turnover ratio means Kentucky didn't put nearly enough on-ball pressure on the Gators' table-setter.

It wasn't a guard but actually big man Jarell Martin who had his way down low in the matchup with the LSU Tigers, even against the stout Kentucky front line. Martin scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and went toe-to-toe with the future pros on the Wildcats.

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There is more to pointing out these impressive performances than just the raw box-score stats.

March is right around the corner, when the intensity and pressure on the Wildcats will be ramped up exponentially, especially if they enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record and the chance to make history. All it takes in March is one spectacular game from an opponent to end the national championship dreams.

Kentucky has to make sure it limits the impact its opponent's best player has on a game if it wants to avoid the stress that will come in March.

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After all, sometimes all it takes is one hot hand to carry a team in March—look no further than Connecticut's Shabazz Napier from a season ago.

Fortunately for Kentucky, it will have the best five players on the court for the majority of its games, which means the opposition will have to worry about shutting down more than just one or two guys.

Outside of limiting the opponent's star, there is one other area where Kentucky can get even better, and fans saw it during Saturday's game.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein are the two mainstays on the front line and will likely hear their names called during the lottery of the upcoming NBA draft. Both are dominant rebounders with unique skill sets that enable them to score from the paint or from mid-range.

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Throw in the fact that they are both impressive shot-blockers who make it incredibly difficult to score at the rim for the opposition, and there is little doubt that the Wildcats will rely on their two formidable big men if they are going to win the national championship.

However, Kentucky could use some more consistent depth and production down low outside of the two main guys.

That is exactly what it got during Saturday's win over Auburn, when Dakari Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Marcus Lee scored six points and tallied eight rebounds. ESPN College Basketball noted that Lee was particularly impressive during one play:

"

Marcus Lee does his best Willie Cauley-Stein impersonation. #SCtop10 http://t.co/b7kMvN2cmT #AUBvsUK

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 22, 2015"

It's not as if either player completely dominated the proceedings, but they both made critical contributions that would have been more important had this been a close game. If coach John Calipari can get that type of production from his bench guys down low in March, he can give Cauley-Stein and Towns more breathers in the physically demanding conference and NCAA tournaments.

That will come in handy when his team plays back-to-backs in the SEC tournament and two games in three days in the Big Dance.

Guard Aaron Harrison offered some praise for Johnson, via Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal:

"

I think it's really hard for him to find (equal) guys to play against, because he is so big and strong. It's kind of tough to play against smaller guys when you are that size. He just figured out how to get around smaller guys and finish over them. Once he figured that out, he's kind of unstoppable in the post.

"

The Wildcats have McDonald's All-Americans as backup big men, which is simply unfair compared to what other teams are working with on a nightly basis. If Johnson and Lee can play up to their talent level, Kentucky will get even better heading into March.

Good luck to the rest of the country if that becomes the reality.

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