KSR Gameday: No. 6 Kentucky takes on No. 14 Mississippi State in Starkville

Good morning, folks! It’s once again Gameday for Kentucky men’s basketball. We’ve got a big one in store for tonight as the No. 6 Wildcats are in Starkville, MS to take on the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Wildcats will look to bounce back from a stunning road loss earlier in the week to Georgia. Not much went right for Mark Pope‘s squad in that matchup. How will his group respond in another “Super Bowl” type environment?

Mississippi State will enter this one as the favorite — 5.5-point favorites in the latest spread from FanDuel. The computers are projecting similar outcomes. KenPom is calling for MSU to win 84-78 while BartTorvik has the Bulldogs winning 85-79. Head coach Chris Jans has Mississippi State sitting on a 14-1 record with the lone loss coming to Butler back in late November. They’ve been kicking ass and taking names since then though, including two blowout wins to start SEC play.

All that being said, the Bulldogs have yet to face a team as talented as Kentucky. The Wildcats will be the highest-ranked team in both the human and computer polls that MSU has faced to this point in the season. Coach Jans will lean heavily on his star sophomore point guard Josh Hubbard (17.1 PPG), but he has a cast of talented supporting players around him. Pope specifically mentioned 6-foot-7 forward Cameron Matthews as someone he’s keeping an eye on, calling him a Draymond Green type of player.

Mississippi State boasts a Top 30 offense and defense in the country. They don’t turn the ball over, shoot it well (and often), pick up the pace when needed, and hit the glass. The Bulldogs aren’t as aggressive at trying to get to the free throw line as Georgia (UK’s last opponent) was, but there are some similarities between the two physicality-wise. Kentucky has not lost a regular season game to Mississippi State since 2009.

The biggest news relating to the ‘Cats’ is that fifth-year forward Andrew Carr is listed as “questionable” in last night’s Availability Report. A full-time starter, the 6-foot-11 Carr is averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 53.3 percent shooting this season. It’s unknown if he’s actually injured or just dealing with a sickness (I feel like everyone I know has a terrible cold right now), but something is going on that could prevent him from taking the floor tonight. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the day.

Tipoff (8:30 PM) is a late one for us East Coasters, so while you sit around on this fine Saturday, make sure to read up on every basketball-related piece of content we’ve churned out over the last couple of days.

• KSR Staff Predictions: No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State
• Kentucky Basketball Has the Most Fatal Flaw
• Say hello to the bad guy: Mark Pope admits to two technical fouls last season
• Chris Jans talks Kentucky’s explosive offense, underrated defense: ‘They got everything you want.’
• Kentucky drops to No. 4 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology
• Mark Pope wants Otega Oweh to keep playing free: ‘He’s more efficient than he’s ever been before, by far.’
• Chris Jans says Mark Pope’s scheme is ‘much more sophisticated now’ as Kentucky head coach
• Mark Pope mostly remembers his losses to Mississippi State

How to Watch No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State

• Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• Television: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Jon Sundvold)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 190
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

The NFL Playoffs begin TODAY

It’s Wild Card weekend in the NFL as the playoffs officially get underway this afternoon. We’ve got two games on the docket for today. You’ll need to bust out the streaming services for them, too. Three more games are on the schedule for Sunday with the sixth and final Wild Card matchup set for Monday.

• 4:30 PM EST (CBS/Paramount+) | Chargers (-3) @ Texans
• 8:00 PM EST (Prime Video) | Steelers @ Ravens (-9.5)

This year’s NFL Playoffs also feature nearly a dozen former Wildcats on postseason rosters. We’ll see Bud Dupree in action today for the Chargers. Ray Davis is one to watch in tomorrow’s game for the Buffalo Bills, same goes for Carrington Valentine (Packers) and Chris Rodriguez Jr. (Commanders). For more info on the 11 Wildcats in the playoffs, click here.

The CFP Championship is set

It’ll be Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Fighting Irish took care of Penn State on Thursday while the Buckeyes beat down Texas last night. The title game is locked in for Monday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN. Ohio State has already opened as a massive favorite too. The Buckeyes are 9.5-point favorites to win the championship. Ohio State’s last title came in 2014 while Notre Dame hasn’t won the whole thing since 1988.

18 ranked CBB teams in action today

TIME(EST)/TV	MATCHUP
12:00 PM (ESPN)	Notre Dame @ No. 4 Duke
12:00 PM (BTN)	USC @ No. 13 Illinois
1:00 PM (SEC Network)	No. 2 Auburn @ South Carolina
2:00 PM (ESPN)	No. 3 Iowa State @ Texas Tech
2:00 PM (FOX)	No. 9 UConn @ Georgetown
2:00 PM (ESPN+)	No. 11 Kansas @ Cincinnati
2:00 PM (ESPN+)	East Carolina @ No. 19 Memphis
4:00 PM (ESPN)	No. 8 Florida @ Arkansas
6:00 PM (ESPN)	No. 1 Tennessee @ Texas
6:00 PM (ESPN+)	No. 12 Houston @ Kansas State
6:00 PM (ESPN2)	No. 17 Oklahoma @ Georgia
6:00 PM (SEC Network)	LSU @ No. 23 Ole Miss
8:00 PM (ESPN)	No. 5 Alabama @ No. 10 Texas A&M
8:30 PM (SEC Network)	No. 6 Kentucky @ No. 14 Mississippi State
9:00 PM (ESPN+)	Washington State @ No. 18 Gonzaga
9:00 PM (CBSSN)	Boise State @ No. 25 Utah State

Fresh episode of Zoom Action

In the latest episode of KSR’s Zoom Action breakdown show, Brandon Ramsey and I dove into the film from the Wildcats’ previous two games to see what went right and what went wrong. We’ve been mostly positive so far this season, and we made sure to point out some of the good we saw from the win over a Top 10 Florida team that was just than a week ago, but there is room to be critical after losing to Georgia.

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Keion Brooks got the call

And is headed to the NBA. The New Orleans Pelicans have signed Keion Brooks Jr. to a two-way contract, a callup from the G-League where he has played all year. Brooks will join forces with fellow Wildcats Antonio Reeves and Brandon Boston Jr. on the big stage. Brooks has played 20 games this season for the Birmingham Squadron, the G-League affiliate for the New Orleans, averaging 18 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 37.5 minutes per game.

Welcome to the big leagues, Keion.