Kentucky vs. Illinois State: Preview, Odds, How to Watch

It’s going to be a busy Friday with back-to-back matchups for the football and basketball programs. First, it’ll be Kentucky taking on Clemson in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville at noon ET. Then, the Wildcats will be taking the floor against the Illinois State Redbirds inside Rupp Arena at 7 p.m. ET.

What do you need to know about the latter? KSR’s got you covered.

How To Watch

No. 8 Kentucky (9-2) vs. Illinois State (8-4)
7 p.m. ET | Friday, December 29 | Rupp Arena

TV: SEC Network (Kevin Fitzgerald, Daymeon Fishback)
Streaming: Fubo (Try for free) – For a limited time, new subscribers can save $20 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite and Premier plans for the first month
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Darren Headrick, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Team Records

No. 9 Kentucky: 9-2 (KenPom: 19)

11/6: 86-46 W vs. New Mexico State
11/10: 81-61 W vs. Texas A&M-Commerce (Wildcat Challenge)
11/14: 89-84 L vs. No. 1 Kansas
11/17: 101-67 W vs. Stonehill (Wildcat Challenge)
11/20: 96-88 OT W vs. Saint Joseph’s (Wildcat Challenge)
11/24: 118-82 W vs. Marshall
11/28: 95-73 W vs. No. 8 Miami (FL)
12/2: 80-73 L vs. UNC-Wilmington
12/9: 81-66 W vs. Penn
12/16: 87-83 W vs. No. 9 North Carolina
12/21: 95-76 W at Louisville

Illinois State: 8-4 (KenPom: 194)

11/6: 75-56 W vs. Lourdes
11/11: 80-71 L at Saint Louis
11/15: 69-61 W vs. Eastern Illinois
11/20: 61-52 vs. Long Beach State
11/21: 74-72 L vs. High Point
11/22: 74-49 L vs. Wright State
11/30: 69-64 W at UIC
12/3: 76-72 W vs. Murray State
12/6: 62-59 W vs. Northern Kentucky
12/9: 64-58 L vs. Norfolk State
12/17: 75-65 W vs. North Dakota State
12/21: 85-64 W vs. SEMO

Series History

The Wildcats and Redbirds have faced off just once in their respective histories, a 75-63 victory in Kentucky’s favor back on Nov. 30, 2015. Ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, UK went into halftime tied before pushing the lead to double digits with 13 minutes to go. Isaiah Briscoe led the Cats with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Jamal Murray added 16 points and Marcus Lee finished rounded out double-digit scorers with 13.

Kentucky vs. Illinois State Odds via FanDuel

Spread: Kentucky -19.5
Total: 149.5 points

Kentucky Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#21 – DJ Wagner
6-4 • 192 • GUARD • FRESHMAN
11.7 PPG, 3.6 APG

#12 – Antonio Reeves
6-6 • 195 • GUARD • SENIOR
18.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG

#1 – Justin Edwards
6-8 • 203 • FORWARD • FRESHMAN
9.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG

#4 – Tre Mitchell
6-9 • 231 • FORWARD • GRADUATE STUDENT
13.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.5 APG

#2 – Aaron Bradshaw
7-1 • 226 • FORWARD • FRESHMAN
8.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 BPG

Head Coach: John Calipari (32nd season, 15th at UK) – 841-255 overall, 396-115 at UK

Illinois State Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#10 – Darius Burford
6-0 • 166 • GUARD • SENIOR
13.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.4 APG

#3 – Dalton Banks
6-2 • 190 • GUARD • SENIOR
10.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.7 APG

#1 – Malachi Poindexter
6-2 • 190 • GUARD • SENIOR
7.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.5 APG

#22 – Kendall Lewis
6-8 • 210 • FORWARD • GRAD. SENIOR
8.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG

#4 – Myles Foster
6-7 • 235 • FORWARD • SENIOR
9.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG

Head Coach: Ryan Pedon (2nd season at Illinois State, 2nd overall): 19-25

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

Since the return of 7-footers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso in December, UK is outrebounding its opponents (+5.3) and averaging 6.5 blocks per game.
Kentucky scored 95 points at Louisville. It was the most points ever surrendered by the Cardinals inside of the KFC Yum! Center. The Cats have logged 81 or more points in every game this season and rank fourth in the country with a 90.6 scoring average.
Kentucky is averaging 10.5 made 3-pointers per game (11th in the country) and making them at a 41.4% rate, which ranks third in the country. Antonio Reeves is hitting 2.73 per game at a 45.5% clip.

Pregame Storylines

ANTONIO REEVES FACES HIS FORMER SCHOOL

Kentucky’s leading scorer was once Illinois State’s leading scorer, spending three seasons with the Redbirds before making his way to Lexington to close out his career. He was a 1,100-point scorer at his first stop, highlighted by a breakthrough campaign of 20.1 points per game as a junior en route to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. “Of course it’s my old team but I try not to go all-out and go wild out there, nothing like that. I just have to stay poised and stay the pace,” Reeves said. “… I’m playing my old team, so I’m really excited about it and happy about it.”

YOUNG VS. OLD

Illinois State’s entire starting lineup is made up of fourth- or fifth-year seniors, all five players averaging at least 24 minutes per contest. Only two rotation pieces are true freshmen — Johnny Kinziger actually joins Reed Sheppard among eight total freshmen since 1992-93 to shoot 49% from the field, 44% from three and 87% at the line with 15 made 3-pointers.

Kentucky, of course, starts three freshmen with two more being key contributors off the bench, along with two sophomores rounding out the rotation. Reeves and Tre Mitchell are the team’s lone contributing upperclassmen.

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TWO 1,000-POINT SCORERS

Speaking of experience, the Redbirds have two of college basketball’s top-250 active career scorers in Burford and Lewis. The former sits at No. 186 overall with 1,149 points, scoring 599 at Elon and 550 at Illinois State. As for the latter, he is ranked No. 232 overall with 1,088 career points.

Kentucky’s got a pair of top-100 active scorers too: Reeves at No. 18 overall with 1,884 career points and Mitchell at No. 92 with 1,543.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

For the first time in over a decade, KSR will be without its in-game live blogs, a longtime tradition here on the blog. Unfortunately, the company that hosted the KSR live blogs no longer exists, so we are without the machine that made it all possible.

If you still want to interact with the KSR crew, consider joining the conversation on KSBoard. New members can try 1 month for $1.

Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with Rapid Reactions inside the Yum! Center on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from John Calipari and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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