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

Can Kentucky turn two into three? The Wildcats haven’t had a three-game winning streak in SEC play yet, their last coming in the stretch of Gonzaga, Colgate and Louisville back in December. To do it, they’ll have to win on the road at Texas in the first head-to-head battle with the Longhorns joining the conference. They’ll also have to do it without their second- and third-leading scorers in Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler, both declared out ahead of the matchup in Austin.

KSR has everything you need to know about UK’s upcoming opponent.

Kentucky at Texas: How to Watch, Listen

• Time: 8:00 pm EST
• Television: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 81 or 390
• 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 18

• 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
• 2/11: 75-64 W vs. No. 5 Tennessee

Texas: KenPom 35

• 11/4: 80-72 L vs. Ohio State
• 11/9: 90-59 W vs. Houston Christian
• 11/13: 105-58 W vs. Chicago State
• 11/17: 89-43 W vs. Mississippi Valley State
• 11/21: 70-66 W vs. Syracuse
• 11/22: 67-58 W vs. Saint Joseph’s
• 11/27: 90-68 W vs. Delaware State
• 12/3: 63-59 W at NC State
• 12/10: 76-65 L vs. No. 25 UConn
• 12/14: 91-67 W vs. New Mexico State
• 12/17: 121-57 W vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff
• 12/23: 98-62 W vs. New Orleans
• 12/31: 77-53 W vs. Northwestern State
• 1/4: 80-60 L at No. 13 Texas A&M
• 1/7: 87-82 L vs. No. 2 Auburn
• 1/11: 74-70 L vs. No. 1 Tennessee
• 1/15: 77-73 W at Oklahoma
• 1/18: 84-60 W at No. 5 Florida
• 1/21: 61-53 W vs. No. 22 Missouri
• 1/25: 70-69 W vs. No. 13 Texas A&M
• 1/28: 72-69 L at No. 23 Ole Miss
• 2/1: 89-58 W at LSU
• 2/5: 78-70 L vs. Arkansas
• 2/8: 86-68 L at Vanderbilt
• 2/11: 103-80 L vs. No. 2 Alabama

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 2-0 with this matchup being the very first in Austin as Texas makes its season debut in the SEC. UK beat UT 63-51 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge back in 2014 along with an 86-61 win for the Cats in the Maui Classic Invitational in 1993.

Rodney Terry, in his third season at Texas, is 0-0 against the Wildcats while Mark Pope is 1-0 against the Longhorns. BYU won the head-to-head battle in the Cougars’ first year in the Big 12, a 84-72 victory in Provo. As a player, Pope never played UT during his time at Kentucky or Washington.

Kentucky vs. Texas Odds

Spread: Texas -1.5
Total: 157.5

KenPom and Bart Torvik disagree with the oddsmakers, both projecting wins for Kentucky with the former going with an 81-80 final score and the latter rolling with 83-82. ESPN’s BPI actually likes the Longhorns by 1.2 points while giving the home team a 54.8 percent chance to pull off the win.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#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

#1 – Trent Noah
6-5 – 220 – FORWARD – FRESHMAN
2.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG

#15 – Ansley Almonor
6-7 – 244 – FORWARD – SENIOR
6.1 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.4 APG

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

Texas Potential Starters

#1 – Julian Larry
6-3 – 185 – GUARD – SENIOR
5.6 PPG, 3.6 APG, 1.6 RPG

#20 – Tre Johnson
6-6 – 190 – GUARD – FRESHMAN
19.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.6 APG

#12 – Tramon Mark
6-5 – 200 – GUARD – SENIOR
8.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.5 APG

#25 – Jayson Kent
6-8 – 215 – FORWARD – SENIOR
5.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.5 SPG

#5 – Kadin Shedrick
6-11 – 231 – FORWARD – SENIOR
8.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.6 BPG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Interesting stats from UK’s game notes:

• 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 15.9 PPG. Should he hit the mark again at Texas, he would become the first Kentucky player since Malik Monk in 2017 to score in double figures in 25 straight games
• 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, Jaxson Robinson and Andrew Carr also missing time.
• Mark Pope’s seven top-25 wins is fifth most among current SEC coaches during their first three years with the program. The Wildcats’ eight Quad 1 wins rank second nationally behind only Auburn with 13.

Pregame Storylines

WELCOME TO THE SEC

Texas is making its SEC debut this season after officially joining the conference in 2024-25. Kentucky has played the Longhorns twice in history, but never in Austin — and certainly not at the Moody Center, which opened in April of 2022 after breaking ground in 2019. The $375 million venue holds 15,000 people for both basketball and entertainment events. Can the Wildcats take care of business in their first matchup as SEC foes?

BUTLER AND ROBINSON ARE OUT

We already knew Kerr Kriisa was going to be out with a broken foot, but now, both Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson have been declared out, as well. The former is dealing with a shoulder injury while the latter works through a wrist issue. That leaves Kentucky with just nine scholarship players and four guards with Travis Perry, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Collin Chandler and Amari Williams manning ball-handling duties in Austin — and maybe for the foreseeable future as they work their way back from injury.

KALUMA IS DOUBTFUL FOR THE LONGHORNS

Kentucky is dealing with serious injury issues, obviously, but the biggest story may be Texas potentially missing standout forward Arthur Kaluma, who was listed as doubtful in the initial availability report. The 6-7 senior and transfer from Kansas State is the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.9 points to go with 7.9 rebounds per game — best on the team.

TRE JOHNSON IS THE STAR OF THE SHOW

If Kaluma can’t go, it’s gonna have to be the Tre Johnson show in Austin if Texas is going to have a chance. The freshman star, a former five-star recruit who listed Kentucky as a finalist, is averaging 19.3 points per contest on 44/87/39 splits with nine 20-point performances and one 30-point outing. “He’s a terrific talent, a real challenge,” Mark Pope said of Johnson.

TERRY ON THE HOT SEAT?

Sitting on the bubble in Terry’s third season in Austin, there is a chance the 56-year-old is coaching for his job the rest of the season. In the midst of the Longhorns’ 23-point home loss to No. 2 Alabama with the team falling to 15-10 on the year, Texas fans showered him with boos. “I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. I didn’t hear any boos. I don’t know, maybe there was boos. There’s not anything people can say or do to me. I got the No. 1 protector in God,” he said.

TEXAS IS DESPERATE FOR A BIG WIN

This goes along with Terry’s hot-seat status, but the Longhorns have lost four out of their last five for a second time in SEC play, sitting at 4-8 in the league with just three Quad 1 wins on the year. They haven’t taken any bad losses at 9-0 in Quad 3 and 4 matchups, but the high-profile wins just aren’t there, either, at 6-10 in Quad 1 and 2 games.

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 the Moody Center while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

New members can get KSR+ for seven days for just $1.

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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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