Here is a brief look at Seattle, and an analysis of our two teams' stats from last year. I know that doesn't mean that much because both teams are likely to little resemble their predecessor due to personnel (and in the case of UK, coaching) changes. But it is what I have.
Seattle University Basic Information
Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Record last year:
20-9 overall, 11-5 in conference, tied for first. #6 seed in Div II NCAA tournament, lost in semifinals to Cal State San Bernardino.
Statistical comparison
TEAM STATISTICS UK OPP SU OPP
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SCORING.................. 2496 2302 2071 1980
Points per game........ 73.4 67.7 71.4 68.3
Scoring margin......... +5.7 - +3.1 -
FIELD GOALS-ATT.......... 890-1868 839-2040 754-1613 677-1600
Field goal pct......... .476 .411 .467 .423
3 POINT FG-ATT........... 231-650 256-766 160-440 186-527
3-point FG pct......... .355 .334 .364 .353
3-pt FG made per game.. 6.8 7.5 5.5 6.4
FREE THROWS-ATT.......... 485-690 368-568 403-569 440-625
Free throw pct......... .703 .648 .708 .704
REBOUNDS................. 1235 1125 1008 955
Rebounds per game...... 36.3 33.1 34.8 32.9
Rebounding margin...... +3.2 - +1.8 -
ASSISTS.................. 537 441 414 357
Assists per game....... 15.8 13.0 14.3 12.3
TURNOVERS................ 493 440 401 407
Turnovers per game..... 14.5 12.9 13.8 14.0
Turnover margin........ -1.6 - +0.2 -
Assist/turnover ratio.. 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9
STEALS................... 201 236 226 188
Steals per game........ 5.9 6.9 7.8 6.5
BLOCKS................... 161 109 113 62
Blocks per game........ 4.7 3.2 3.9 2.1
WINNING STREAK........... 0 - 0 -
Home win streak........ 2 - 2 -
ATTENDANCE............... 374737 248426 6293 11650
Home games-Avg/Game.... 16-23421 10-15858 11-572 14-665
Neutral site-Avg/Game.. - 8-11231 - 4-584
Disclaimer: I am looking at last year's stats, and that may or may not mean anything. Seattle is undoubtedly as different this year as Kentucky is. But it's what I have, so we'll have to make the best of it.
Offense
As you can see above, Kentucky scored more and defended better against better competition. UK also shot better from the field, but not from the three-point line -- Seattle was better from there. Generally, Kentucky would appear to be a better offensive team last year, but that was with a player we no longer have -- Randolph Morris.
UK also comes out ahead in assists per game, but was much inferior in turnover margin, a statistic that proved to be a bugaboo for the Wildcats last season.
Defense
Defensively, the Wildcats were better last season from two, but SU was superior in three-point defense. The Redhaws also were superior in steals last year, and took much better care of the basketball when they had possession.
Kentucky is substantially superior in blocks, however, and considering that Seattle has only 4 players over 6'8" and none over 6'9", it is likely that Kentucky will display it's superior skills by rejecting a good number of Redhawk shot attempts tonight.
Overall
Just looking at their scoring and shot attempts, it appears that Seattle is a more deliberate team than Kentucky. That will be a bit of a different look than what we had in our last game, where we played a more up-tempo Pikeville team. Kentucky is not much bigger than this team, but is most likely way more athletic.
Seattle is well coached and well regarded in Division II. They should present as a significantly more challenging foe than the NAIA Pikeville team did, and will likely present a more methodical approach to the game.
Kentucky should have no trouble dispatching the Redhawks, but keep in mind that Division II teams can sometimes turn the tables on even highly regarded Division I foes, as Michigan State found out last night, to their woe. But I fully expect our depth and our talent to undo the best efforts of the Redhawks, and hopefully, we will see significant improvement over last game, particularly in the areas of rebounding and inside scoring.
If we don't, we may have reason for concern, as the regular season begins in but three days.
I will be out for most of the game tonight, but I'll be recording it. We will of course have our normal open thread, so be sure to take advantage of it.