No. 15 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Tennessee: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

Is it time for revenge? No. 15 Kentucky certainly doesn’t hope so as it prepares to take on No. 5 Tennessee in the Wildcats’ first rematch of the SEC schedule. The road team earned the hard-fought victory in Knoxville back on January 28, a gutsy performance without starting point guard Lamont Butler. Can they hold off the Volunteers from doing the same in the return trip to Lexington?

KSR has everything you need to know about the Cats vs. the Vols in the mid-week matchup inside Rupp Arena.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee: How to Watch, Listen

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Television: ESPN (Jay Bilas, Dan Shulman and Molly McGrath)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 81
• 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.

Early season rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 23

• 11/4: 103-62 W vs. Wright State
• 11/9: 100-72 W vs. Bucknell
• 11/12: 77-72 W vs. No. 6 Duke
• 11/19: 97-68 W vs. Lipscomb
• 11/22: 108-59 W vs. Jackson State
• 11/26: 87-68 W vs. Western Kentucky
• 11/29: 105-76 W vs. Georgia State
• 12/3: 70-66 L at Clemson
• 12/7: 90-89 W OT vs. No. 7 Gonzaga
• 12/11: 78-67 W vs. Colgate
• 12/14: 93-85 W vs. Louisville
• 12/21: 85-65 L vs. Ohio State
• 12/31: 88-54 W vs. Brown
• 1/4: 106-100 W vs. No. 6 Florida
• 1/7: 82-69 L at Georgia
• 1/11: 95-90 W at No. 14 Mississippi State
• 1/14: 81-69 W vs. No. 11 Texas A&M
• 1/18: 102-97 L vs. No. 4 Alabama
• 1/25: 74-69 L at Vanderbilt
• 1/28: 78-73 W at No. 8 Tennessee
• 2/1: 89-79 L vs. Arkansas
• 2/4: 98-84 L at No. 25 Ole Miss
• 2/8: 80-57 W vs. South Carolina

Tennessee: KenPom 4

• 11/4: 80-64 W vs. Gardner Webb
• 11/9: 77-55 W at Louisville
• 11/13: 92-57 W vs. Montana
• 11/17: 103-68 W vs. Austin Peay
• 11/21: 64-42 W vs. Virginia
• 11/22: 77-62 W vs. No. 13 Baylor
• 11/27: 78-35 W vs. Tennessee Martin
• 12/3: 96-70 W vs. Syracuse
• 12/10: 75-62 W vs. Miami (FL)
• 12/14: 66-64 W at Illinois
• 12/17: 84-36 W vs. Western Carolina
• 12/23: 82-64 W vs. Middle Tennessee
• 12/31: 67-52 W vs. Norfolk State
• 1/4: 76-52 W vs. No. 23 Arkansas
• 1/7: 73-43 L at No. 8 Florida
• 1/11: 74-70 W at Texas
• 1/15: 74-56 W vs. No. 23 Georgia
• 1/18: 76-75 L at Vanderbilt
• 1/21: 68-56 W vs. No. 14 Mississippi State
• 1/25: 53-51 L at No. 1 Auburn
• 1/28: 78-73 L vs. No. 12 Kentucky
• 2/1: 64-44 W vs. No. 5 Florida
• 2/5: 85-81 W vs. No. 15 Missouri
• 2/8: 70-52 W at Oklahoma

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 162-78 including a 94-20 record at home in Lexington. The Wildcats won the first matchup this season in Knoxville, a 78-73 victory led by Koby Brea with 18 points, followed by Jaxson Robinson with 17, Otega Oweh with 14, Ansley Almonor with 12 and Amari Williams with 10.

The two teams split the series in 2023-24, starting with a 103-92 loss for the Cats in Lexington back on Feb. 3, followed by an 85-81 victory on the road in Knoxville in the regular season finale on March 9. Rob Dillingham led all scorers in the first with 35 points while Antonio Reeves added 21. Reeves and Reed Sheppard both added 27 apiece in the second with Justin Edwards also going for 16.

Rick Barnes, in his tenth season at Tennessee, is 12-13 against the Wildcats while Mark Pope is 1-0 against the Volunteers. As a player, Pope was 4-0 against UT, averaging 6.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest in the series.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee Odds

Spread: Tennessee -1.5
Total: 146.5

KenPom and Bart Torvik both project wins for Tennessee and both predict a final score of 74-72 in favor of the Volunteers. ESPN’s BPI likes the Volunteers by 0.9 points while giving the road team a 53.7 percent chance to pull off the win.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
12.9 PPG, 4.7 APG, 2.8 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
16.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG

#4 – Koby Brea
6-7 – 215 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.0 APG

#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.1 APG

#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.4 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.0 APG

Tennessee Projected Starters

#5 – Zakai Zeigler
5-9 – 172 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.9 PPG, 7.5 APG, 3.5 RPG

#2 – Chaz Lanier
6-5 – 207 – GUARD – GRADUATE SENIOR
17.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.0 APG

#15 – Jahmai Mashack
6-4 – 202 – GUARD – SENIOR
5.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.4 APG

#7 – Igor Milicic Jr.
6-10 – 225 – FORWARD – SENIOR
10.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.3 APG

#34 – Felix Okpara
6-10 – 245 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
7.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.9 BPG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Interesting stats from UK’s game notes:

• UK and UT are one of the nation’s oldest rivalries, meeting 240 times with the Wildcats holding a 162-78 all-time edge. This will mark the second of two meetings between the teams this season.
• Otega Oweh’s double-figure scoring streak continues, going for 10-plus points in every game this season. He currently leads the team in scoring at 16.0 PPG.
• Kentucky will play its eighth game of the season against an AP Top 15 team. The Wildcats are 6-1 in such matchups on the year.
• The injury bug has stung UK this season, playing just seven games at full strength this season with Kerr Kriisa out since Dec. 11 and Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr also missing time.
• Kentucky held South Carolina to just 57 points on Saturday and won the game by 23 points, the fewest points surrendered to an SEC team and the largest margin of victory against a league foe this season.

Pregame Storylines

KENTUCKY’S FIRST REMATCH

For the first time this season, the Wildcats will take on a repeat opponent in the SEC and overall. Kentucky is just a few weeks removed from beating Tennessee in Knoxville on January 28, a 78-73 victory. UK had five players finish in double figures in that one as it shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from three while holding UT to 34.7 percent overall and 24.4 percent from deep. The Volunteers are looking for revenge as the Wildcats hope to pull off the season sweep against their bitter SEC rivals.

LAMONT BUTLER AND ANDREW CARR ARE BACK

Lamont Butler was a scratch in Knoxville the first time around, sitting out with an injured shoulder — the first of three games missed for the team’s starting point guard in a string of four losses in five matchups. Andrew Carr was technically available in that one, but played just 89 seconds before sitting out the remainder of the game with an injured back, failing to accumulate any stats beyond a single turnover. Both players are back for Kentucky and at close to full strength, a huge advantage the Cats did not have in Knoxville.

JAXSON ROBINSON HAS BEEN DECLARED OUT

The bad news? Jaxson Robinson, who had 17 in the win at Tennessee, has been ruled out of Tuesday’s matchup with a right wrist injury suffered in practice last week. He left the South Carolina game twice in clear pain, but returned in the final minutes before the starters were pulled in the blowout win. “We’ll see how it goes with Jax,” Pope said Monday night. “It’s gonna be touch and go with those few guys for the next few weeks.”

As two standouts return, one exits for the Cats.

TIME TO BREAK THE TOP-15 RECORD

Kentucky is 6-1 against top-15 competition, the team’s lone slip-up coming in a home loss vs. No. 4 Alabama. Those six wins are currently tied with the 2002-03 team for the most in program history, this matchup setting up a chance at history for the 2024-25 squad should they pull off a seventh top-15 win. As things stand today, the Wildcats will have two more top-15 opportunities past the second Tennessee matchup: at No. 2 Alabama and vs. No. 1 Auburn.

A WINNING RECORD VS. BARNES ON ROCKY TOP ON THE LINE

Including his time at Texas, Kentucky is 12-11 against Rick Barnes overall. During his time at Tennessee, though, it’s an even 11-11 split with the Wildcats only sweeping the Volunteers just once (2023) since his arrival. During that time, the Cats have never had a winning record against the Vols. Pope could make another form of history with a UK win on Tuesday. Weirdly enough, the road team has won eight of the last 11 in this series, meaning history will not be on Kentucky’s side as it looks to earn the victory in Lexington.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during the game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside Rupp Arena while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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