Kentucky has played best basketball against ranked competition

by:Adam Luckett•about 10 hours•

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NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at Tennessee — Jan 28, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Koby Brea (4) is helped off the floor by teammates during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Kentucky will get a monster opportunity to pick up one of the best wins of the college basketball regular season when Bruce Pearl brings his No. 1 Auburn team into Rupp Arena on Saturday. The Tigers will be facing the Wildcats in a spot where Kentucky has performed well.

Mark Pope‘s first UK team has played in 10 ranked vs. ranked matchups this season. The Wildcats are 7-3 outright and against-the-spread (ATS) in those games. UK has won as an underdog six times with wins over four top-10 teams at KenPom: Duke (No. 1), Florida (No. 4), Tennessee (No. 5), and Gonzaga (No. 9).

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Game	Result
No. 19 Kentucky (+5.5) vs. No. 6 Duke	Won 77-72
No. 4 Kentucky (+6) vs. No. 7 Gonzaga	Won 90-89 (OT)
No. 6 Florida vs. No. 10 Kentucky (-3.5)	Won 106-100
No. 6 Kentucky (+5.5) at No. 14 Mississippi State	Won 95-90
No. 11 Texas A&M at No. 8 Kentucky (-6.5)	Won 81-69
No. 4 Alabama at No. 8 Kentucky (-2)	Lost 102-97
No. 12 Kentucky (+10.5) at No. 8 Tennessee	Won 78-73
No. 14 Kentucky (+5.5) at No. 25 Ole Miss	Lost 98-84
No. 5 Tennessee at No. 15 Kentucky (+3.5)	Won 75-64
No. 17 Kentucky (+12.5) at No. 4 Alabama	Lost 96-83

Will Auburn be the next one to fall?

Kentucky had some struggles with Alabama and had a hangover performance in the loss to Ole Miss but has generally produced a great performance in each of these situations. Kentucky took down Duke on a neutral floor. The Blue Devils would defeat Auburn at home three weeks after that game. Florida was the only SEC team to defeat Auburn and did so by pouring in 13 threes. Kentucky leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (39.7%)

The challenge on Saturday afternoon will be difficult, but this Kentucky team has shown us that they are up to the task when the best teams in college basketball show up on the schedule.