Kentucky Basketball: Marquis Teague Will Be Exposed as Weak Link vs. UNC

Tomorrow night’s showdown between top-ranked Kentucky and No. 5 North Carolina will feature many of the nation’s most extraordinary frontcourt talents. The outcome, however, could easily hinge on what happens in the backcourt.

While future lottery picks like Anthony Davis and Harrison Barnes are trading highlight-reel plays, Kentucky freshman Marquis Teague will be facing his toughest test of the season. The Wildcat point guard will square off with the Tar Heels’ sophomore All-America candidate, Kendall Marshall.

Marshall is the engine of UNC’s devastating fast-break offense, and one of the keys to outscoring the Tar Heels is to slow him down in transition. Despite how talented Teague is, he’s unlikely to be up to that challenge.

On the other end, Teague will have to work much harder than usual to find openings for his usually-dominant forwards. Davis and Terrence Jones will, for a rarity, be taking on an even bigger pair of opponents in North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller and John Henson.

Like departed star Brandon Knight, Teague isn’t a point guard who racks up huge assist totals anyway—4.1 per game, just shy of Knight’s 4.2 from last season. With his teammates no longer likely to win the game regardless of his performance, though, Teague’s shortcomings as a scorer (10.7 points per game, a far cry from Knight’s 17.3) will be highlighted.

With the weapons Kentucky has, only the best teams in the country will be able to take advantage of Teague’s relative mediocrity. North Carolina, however, is one of those teams, and even in Lexington, the Tar Heels will have a great chance to pull off the upset because of their decisive edge at the PG spot.