Utes know 'Cats strengths

AUSTIN, Texas — By now, the Utah basketball team has learned a lot about Kentucky, the team it plays in an NCAA third-round game at 7:40 p.m. Friday at the Frank Erwin Center.

They've learned that the Wildcats like to pressure their opponents on defense. Kentucky ranks 25th in the country in steals and 31st in field-goal percentage defense.

They've learned that the Wildcats are one of the deepest teams in college basketball, using at least 10 players per game and often 12 or 13. Thirteen players have played in at least 24 games this year (compared to nine for Utah), and nine Wildcats average at least 11 minutes per game.

"When you haven't seen a team all year, just about anything you see is brand new," Utah coach Ray Giacoletti said. "But I didn't realize they were that deep. I didn't realize they started two freshmen."

The Utes have also learned that the Wildcats have a different way of double-teaming the post, which is significant since the Utes' hopes for an upset will rest on the man who is being double-teamed, all-American Andrew Bogut. Since studying the films, the most significant thing Giacoletti and his assistants have discovered is the Wildcats' "unorthodox" way of using double teams.

"Most teams double from big to big or the person on the help side," Giacoletti explained. "Theirs is different in that it's from the perimeter up on top. It's an NBA rotation rather than a college rotation, something we've never seen before."

While the Ute coaches have been learning things like how their opponent might double-team Bogut, we've been learning a few things about the Wildcats also. Such as:

• The Wildcats have not made it to the Final Four since 1998, the year they broke the Utes' hearts by coming back from a 10-point halftime deficit to win the national title.

The Wildcats have made it to the Elite Eight twice — in 2003, when they lost to Marquette, and 1999, when they lost to Michigan State. Kentucky also lost in the second round in 2000, the third round in 2001 and 2002, and last year in the second round, to UAB.

• The Wildcat starters don't have a height advantage over Utah at any starting position.