John Calipari owns unblemished record in Starkville

Kentucky hits the road in the SEC again on Wednesday night and cannot afford another loss. The Wildcats have a Quadrant 1 opportunity against a hot Mississippi State squad that has won five consecutive games with victories over Arkansas, Missouri, and TCU.

The Cats could once again be short-handed as CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler may have to miss another game. Meanwhile, Mississippi State has a top-five defense under first-year head coach Chris Jans as the Bulldogs force a lot of turnovers and do a great job of chasing opponents off of the three-point line. Mississippi State will be a trendy pick and is currently the betting favorite in this matchup. However, the recent history in this series is in Kentucky’s favor.

Kentucky and Mississippi State have met 112 times on the hardwood owning a 93-19 (.830) series lead. However, that number has been better during the John Calipari era. Since 2010, Kentucky is 16-1 (.941) against Mississippi State with the only loss occurring in the 2021 SEC Tournament.

Rick Stansbury (2010-12) and Rick Ray (2013-15) were both winless against Kentucky with Calipari coaching the Wildcats. Ben Howland (2016-22) was 1-8 against the Big Blue. Former New Mexico State head coach Jans is attempting to avoid a similar fate in his first career game against Kentucky.

In games at Humphrey Coliseum, Calipari is undefeated against Mississippi State owning an 8-0 record. There was the infamous “Call Me” game in 2010 was one of the most memorable road wins of John Calipari’s tenure. In this run, Kentucky is 5-0 in games decided by single digits with a pair of overtime wins. The Cats have had a lot of success in Starkville.

Kentucky needs that recent winning history in this SEC series to continue on Wednesday. The Wildcats desperately need a Quadrant 1 victory and a win could create some much needed buzz with just a handful of games remaining in the regular season.