UK basketball has many issues on defense. Opponents’ 3-point shooting might be the worst.

Always prone to hyperbole (even in the best of times), John Calipari has frequently used some of his favorite phrases this season to discuss the shooting success opponents have had against his Kentucky basketball team.

From cold-shooting players exploding for a big game against the Wildcats to players making difficult shots from all sorts of angles, Calipari has often brought up how opponents always find a way to have an outlier of a shooting night against UK.

“Now, against us, everybody makes shots,” Calipari lamented last month after a lopsided road loss at South Carolina.

That statement isn’t exactly far from the truth. Saturday night’s 103-92 home loss to Tennessee was the latest example of it, and in particular from behind the 3-point line.

Through 21 games this season, a majority of Kentucky’s opponents have made more 3s against the Wildcats than their season averages.

In 13 games this season, UK’s opponents have had better-than-normal shooting nights from 3-point range. That includes four of Kentucky’s five losses — to UNC Wilmington, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Florida (last week) and Tennessee.

There’s a direct correlation between opponent 3-point shooting success and Kentucky’s ability to win, especially in SEC play.

UK is 0-4 against SEC teams that have made at least 10 shots from 3-point range against the Cats.

That number quickly became relevant Saturday night, as Tennessee made four of its 12 3-point attempts in the opening 4:15 of game time.

Here is how many 3-pointers Kentucky’s opponents have made this season. (Bold type indicates a team made more 3-pointers against UK than its season average, as of Sunday morning.)

▪ New Mexico State: 5 against Kentucky, 6.6 per game this season.

▪ Texas A&M-Commerce: 10 against Kentucky, 9.2 per game this season.

▪ Kansas: 6 against Kentucky, 6.4 per game this season.

▪ Stonehill: 11 against Kentucky, 8.4 per game this season.

▪ Saint Joseph’s: 15 against Kentucky, 10.5 per game this season.

▪ Marshall: 9 against Kentucky, 8.1 per game this season.

▪ Miami (Fla.): 5 against Kentucky, 9.1 per game this season.

▪ UNC Wilmington: 11 against Kentucky, 8.7 per game this season.

▪ Penn: 9 against Kentucky, 9.5 per game this season.

▪ North Carolina: 8 against Kentucky, 7.7 per game this season.

▪ Louisville: 4 against Kentucky, 5.5 per game this season.

▪ Illinois State: 8 against Kentucky, 5.9 per game this season.

▪ Florida: 9 against Kentucky, 7.9 per game this season.

▪ Missouri: 8 against Kentucky, 8 per game this season.

▪ Texas A&M: 12 against Kentucky, 6.6 per game this season.

▪ Mississippi State: 9 against Kentucky, 7.2 per game this season.

▪ Georgia: 7 against Kentucky, 8.2 per game this season.

▪ South Carolina: 11 against Kentucky, 8.5 per game this season.

▪ Arkansas: 4 against Kentucky, 6 per game this season.

▪ Florida: 12 against Kentucky, 7.9 per game this season.

▪ Tennessee: 12 against Kentucky, 8.6 per game this season.

Opposing players have career nights vs. UK

Not only are teams enjoying unprecedented 3-point shooting success against Kentucky as a collective, but individual players have also risen to the occasion in a big, and somewhat unlikely, way.

Some of the notable individual shooting performances from distance against UK this season have included:

▪ Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. going 5-for-6 on 3s in a Champions Classic win over UK. Those are season highs for 3s made and 3s attempted for Harris.

▪ Saint Joseph’s guards Cameron Brown (5-for-8) and Erik Reynolds II (6-for-12) each matched their season highs for 3s made when the Hawks pushed Kentucky to overtime at Rupp Arena.

▪ North Carolina guard Cormac Ryan went 4-for-7 on 3s against Kentucky. This matches what Ryan was able to do from distance against Louisville, and those two performances are easily the best distance shooting games Ryan has had since transferring to UNC from Notre Dame last offseason.

▪ Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV went 6-for-13 on 3s in the Aggies’ home overtime win over Kentucky last month. This matched the junior’s career high in 3-pointers made.

▪ Georgia’s Jabri Abdur-Rahim went a scintillating 7-for-14 on 3-pointers last month at Rupp Arena. That’s as many 3-pointers as he’s made in his last four games combined. The seven made 3s in one game marked a career-best shooting night from distance for the senior.

▪ South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright went 4-for-6 on 3s against the Wildcats in a commanding home win for the Gamecocks last month. Wright entered that game having gone 4-for-32 from 3-point range across his previous 11 games.

▪ Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. followed in Abdur-Rahim’s footsteps by going 7-for-13 from 3-point range last week for the Gators, also in Rupp Arena. This marked career highs in 3s made and attempted for Clayton.

Most recently, the Saturday night performance of Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James might be the best example of how opponents have punished Kentucky from behind the 3-point line this season.

James entered the game shooting 1-for-18 on 3s across his previous seven SEC games this season: He then went 4-from-9 on 3s and tied for the Volunteers’ team lead with 26 points in their road win at Rupp Arena.

While opponents are clearly having 3-point shooting success against Kentucky, these teams usually aren’t making a higher percentage of their distance shots compared to normal.

In only nine of Kentucky’s 21 games this season — including five of nine SEC games — UK’s opponent has shot better than their 3-point shooting average for the whole year.

The takeaway?

Teams are letting it fly from deep against Kentucky, and even struggling players are finding it easy to get their 3-point shot back on track with enough attempts against the Wildcats.

Why are opponents making so many 3s against Kentucky?

While each basketball game has its own rhythm and flow, opponents’ 3-point shooting success is clearly a common theme this season.

Per KenPom as of Monday morning, Kentucky ranks 118th in the country (out of 362 teams) in 3-point shooting defense. Opponents make 32.6% of their long-range shots against UK.

What are opponents seeing from Kentucky’s 3-point defense?

“They’re a little young. They were jumping out a lot on shot fakes,” said Clayton, the Florida guard who last week drained a 3-pointer with just seconds to go to force overtime in the Gators’ eventual win in Lexington.

“Me, using my pump fake, letting them pass me and then get the shot off.”

More importantly, what have Kentucky’s coaches noticed from this weak link on an already bad defensive team?

“You go into games sometimes with a particular player or team that’s not shooting it well. And then, on that particular night, they are shooting it well,” UK assistant coach Chuck Martin said last week. “So for young teams and young guys, it’s hard to make that adjustment. I think as the year goes on and we play more games, (our team) is starting to realize that on any given night, if a kid hits one or two, although he’s not a great shooter overall, that particular night he is. So we’ve got to treat him that way.”

Next game

No. 17 Kentucky at Vanderbilt

When: 8:30 p.m. EST Tuesday

TV: SEC

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 15-6 (5-4 SEC),Vanderbilt (6-15, 1-7 SEC)

Series: Kentucky leads 155-49

Last meeting: Vanderbilt won 80-73 in 2023 SEC Tournament quarterfinals on March 10, 2023, in Nashville

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