Chris Mack, the former Louisville and Xavier coach, has a keen eye on Kentucky’s defensive issues, particularly with Oscar Tshiebwe.

Mack said John Calipari at Kentucky should consider something he did at Xavier: Mix zone and man defense.

If an opponent, such as Arkansas on Saturday, wants to pick on Tshiebwe in ball-screen situations, the way to negate that is to mix the defenses.

“You’re just constantly giving curveballs,” Mack said. “For that coach that just wants to pick on you, pick on you, pick on you, he can’t really do it because he’s going against a different look each and every time. I will tell you that’s against Cal’s MO, but I will tell you he might have to do that because it’s not like you’re going to put Tshiebwe on the bench.”

Looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, Mack said he believes Kentucky will make it. Even though Arkansas beat Kentucky, the Wildcats are ahead in the standings.

“I think that they’re playing better than they were 4 weeks ago,” Mack said.