In Saturday's 58-50 win over Louisville, Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 26 minutes.

That number is more impressive than it looks, given the 59 possessions the two rivals shared. Even then, it doesn't quite get to how well Ulis played. He was his usual pestering self at the defensive point of attack. He was also commanding with the ball -- patient, intelligent, unwavering. His second-half 3s (at the 10:38 mark, and again at 7:24) opened up the kind of seven- and eight-point leads from which the Cardinals were never going to recover. He did it all with an intermittently leaking cut above his right eye. He "controlled pretty much the whole game,” as Louisville guard Terry Rozier put it. No one was more valuable to UK's win.

Meanwhile, Andrew Harrison, Kentucky's starting point guard and Ulis' putative platoon counterpart, had one of the worst games of his career. Other than a late 3, he went 0-of-5 from the field, coughed up six turnovers, openly sulked, received a widely noted dressing down from Kentucky coach John Calipari for leaving his huddle too early, and mostly looked miserable even as the Wildcats were polishing off a massive road victory.

Before and after the final buzzer, this contrast -- gritty Ulis vs. pouty Harrison -- prompted all manner of second-screen second-guesses. Ulis was Kentucky's best point guard! He should take Harrison's minutes! And then responders would jump in: Calipari would do that but can't, because who knows how both Harrison twins would react? Kentucky's chemistry might be damaged beyond repair!

The agreed-upon assumption is that Calipari would just love to ditch the platoons and put Ulis atop his One True Rotation, but because he has to keep everyone (read: the Harrisons) happy, his hands are tied. But what about close games? Ulis has to play in close games!

Two days later, let's get one thing clear: It doesn't matter. None of it matters.

ESPN Insider's John Gasaway got at this point in his Sunday column, with Dakari Johnson as the perfect example. Johnson played just 11 minutes Saturday. Marcus Lee played just 10.

So let's say Johnson and Lee are at the end of the bench in non-blowouts. Just imagine if Calipari is ever "forced" to play Johnson, for example. The Wildcats will then be in the perilous position of having to rely on quite possibly their best individual offensive rebounder, a player who's more or less the identical twin of Willie Cauley-Stein in terms of block percentage and a prospect who's projected as a 2015 first-round pick.

The same is true of Kentucky's guards. Ulis and Devin Booker may well represent the Wildcats' best perimeter duo. They certainly provide better outside shooting, the one glaring weakness in the Harrisons' games specifically (they are a combined 28.7 percent from 3 on the season) and the team's offense generally (UK shoots just 32.1 percent from beyond the arc). From an aesthetic standpoint, Ulis' ballhandling really does make Kentucky's offense feel more fluid, less stagnant. But for all that, Andrew Harrison's assist rate is practically the same as Ulis' (31.6 to 32.4) and both players turn it over fairly often (Harrison on 26.8 percent of his possessions, Ulis on 22.9 percent).

But, again, none of this really matters. Even if Harrison were always as bad as he was Saturday and Ulis were always as good, it still wouldn't matter.

Kentucky is playing to world-historic levels on the defensive end. It rampaged through its nonconference slate allowing just 0.82 points per possession (adjusted for competition), mostly because its back line simply does not allow easy interior scores. If the Wildcats keep that up, they will end the season as the best defense of the per-possession era. On Saturday, Rick Pitino said they were "one of the great defensive teams I've seen in my 40 years." Meanwhile, the Wildcats grab 46 percent of available offensive rebounds, likewise the highest mark in the country. Perimeter shooting becomes less crucial when you turn half of your misses into second chances.

Here's a helpful thought experiment: Tomorrow, Ulis decides he no longer cares for the game of basketball. He announces his retirement at the ripe old age of 19, and he looks forward to spending more time with his family. Or whatever. Does Kentucky look any less likely to win the national title? Louisville in the Yum! Center presented Kentucky with by far its toughest test of the season, and with both Harrisons struggling, with its offense scoring less than a point per trip, the Wildcats still escaped unscathed. Do they look any more vulnerable to anyone in the SEC? Look at the Wildcats five toughest games going away: At Florida? At South Carolina? At Georgia? Come on. UK may or may not enter March undefeated, but any loss in the SEC would be a self-inflicted aberration. Are you really going to pick against them?

That's why Calipari will keep Andrew Harrison in the starting lineup. That's why he can revert to playing his top nine guys about 20 minutes per game at the start of SEC play. That's why he doesn't have to worry about any of the potential personnel dilemmas everyone was tweeting about Saturday. He can mix things up as he pleases, and as the matchup dictates, with an eye on overall team cohesion. Only in March, and even then only late in the tournament, will the Wildcats come up against the kind of team (Duke, Virginia, Wisconsin) that might have the right offensive combination to test them.

For now, Kentucky is so much better than the rest of its regular-season opponents that it can afford to keep the Harrison twins happy and heavily involved, even if it means ignoring what might be an "ideal" lineup. There is no opportunity cost there. A slight boost in offensive efficiency is worthless when your defense is impenetrable. "Crunch time" doesn't exist when you're blowing everybody out.

Should Calipari bench the Harrison twins? Should Ulis play more? These are the kinds of questions you're supposed to ask about a college basketball team, the kinds of things almost every coaching staff has to carefully consider.

Kentucky is not one of those teams. Kentucky is so good, the usual rules don't apply.