No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

Kentucky‘s first true road game didn’t go as planned. Then the Wildcats’ first true road game in the SEC didn’t go as planned. How about their first true ranked road game in the SEC? They hope to head down to Starkville and finally get that monkey off their backs against No. 14 Mississippi State, off to a terrific 14-1 start this season under coach Chris Jans.

What will it take to pull off the victory in the bounce-back opportunity? KSR has everything you need to know about the matchup inside Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

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.

Early season rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 22

• 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. 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. Florida
• 1/7: 82-69 L at Georgia

Mississippi State: KenPom 17

• 11/4: 95-60 W vs. West Georgia
• 11/8: 101-66 W vs. Georgia State
• 11/12: 80-59 W vs. Southeastern Louisiana
• 11/17: 78-73 W vs. Utah
• 11/22: 84-79 W at SMU
• 11/28: 80-58 W vs. UNLV
• 11/29: 87-77 L vs. Butler
• 12/4: 90-57 W vs. Pittsburgh
• 12/8: 91-84 W vs. Prairie View A&M
• 12/14: 66-63 W vs. McNeese State
• 12/17: 83-59 W vs. Central Michigan
• 12/21: 79-66 at Memphis
• 12/30: 87-73 W vs. Bethune-Cookman
• 1/4: 85-50 W vs. South Carolina
• 1/7: 76-64 W at Vanderbilt

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 103-21 including a 39-12 record on the road at Mississippi State. The Wildcats won both matchups in 2023-24, starting with a blowout 90-77 win in Lexington on Jan. 17, followed by a 91-89 victory in Starkville on Feb. 27. Antonio Reeves finished with a game-high 27 points in the first one, followed by Reed Sheppard going for a career-high 32 points in the second — including the game-winner at the end of regulation. MSU star Josh Hubbard did his best to will the Bulldogs to victory, dropping 34 points himself in the losing effort.

Chris Jans, in his third season at Mississippi State, is 0-3 against the Wildcats overall while Mark Pope is set to take on the Bulldogs for the first time. They do have history together, though, with Jans up 3-1 on Pope during their respective time at New Mexico State and Utah Valley, respectively.

Kentucky at Mississippi State Odds

Spread: Mississippi State -4.5
Total: 161.5

KenPom and Bart Torvik both project losses for UK, the former going with an 84-78 loss and the latter rolling with an 85-80 final score. ESPN’s BPI likes the Bulldogs by 3.4 points while giving the home team a 63.3 percent chance to pull off the win.

Kentucky Projected Starters

#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
14.2 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.1 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
15.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.6 SPG

#2 – Jaxson Robinson
6-6 – 192 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
11.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.7 APG

#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
11.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.6 APG

#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
9.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.5 BPG

Mississippi State Projected Starters

#12 – Josh Hubbard
5-11 – 190 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
17.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 3.3 APG

#0 – Claudell Harris Jr.
6-4 – 200 – GUARD – SENIOR
11.1 PPG, 1.5 APG, 3.3 RPG

#22 – RJ Melendez
6-7 – 210 – FORWARD – SENIOR
8.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.4 SPG

#4 – Cameron Matthews
6-7 – 235 – FORWARD – SENIOR
8.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.1 APG

#23 – Michael Nwoko
6-10 – 245 – CENTER – SOPHOMORE
7.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.0 BPG

SEC Availability Report

The new SEC policy states players must be listed as “out” (0% chance to play), “doubtful” (25% chance to play), “questionable” (50% chance to play), or “probable” (75% chance to play) in reports prior to game days. Where do things stand ahead of the team’s trip to Starkville?

KENTUCKY

• Kerr Kriisa – OUT
• Andrew Carr – QUESTIONABLE

MISSISSIPPI STATE

• Kanye Clary – OUT

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Kentucky has faced three opponents ranked inside the AP top 10 this year, going 3-0 in those matchups. Mississippi State will mark the fourth ranked foe overall, but first ranked opponent outside the top 10
• Lamont Butler has been the team’s leading scorer through two games in SEC play, averaging 19.5 points per game while shooting 60.9 percent from the field with 5.5 assists, 3.5 steals and 3.0 rebounds.
• Otega Oweh is the only player who has scored in double digits in every game for Kentucky while five players are averaging double-figure scoring — Amari Williams is just short of that mark at 9.9 points per game. No UK team has ever finished the season with six players averaging double-figure points.
• The Wildcats are 10-0 this season and 2-1 in neutral-site games, but still in search of the first true road game of the season

Pregame Storylines

AN 18-GAME WINNING STREAK IS ON THE LINE

Kentucky has not lost a regular season matchup to Mississippi State since February 3, 2009 — a 66-57 loss in Lexington with Billy Gillispie coaching the Wildcats. The last loss in Starkville? A season before that one, falling 69-64 inside Humphrey Coliseum on Jan. 15, 2008. The Bulldogs have had three different coaches since those Rick Stansbury days, bouncing from Rick Ray to Ben Howland to, now, Chris Jans. That’s a pretty significant win streak on the line in Mark Pope’s first trip to Starkville.

STOPPING JOSH HUBBARD

You don’t need me to tell you how good Josh Hubbard is — you experienced it a year ago when the star guard dropped 34 points on Kentucky in Starkville, shooting 11-24 from the field and 7-14 from three. It was an all-time individual performance, only to be topped by another all-time individual performance with Reed Sheppard going for a career-high 32 points on an efficient 11-14 shooting and 4-7 from three with seven assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals — plus a game-winner at the buzzer. Hubbard is currently averaging a team-high 17.1 points per game on 43/38/83 splits. “He’s a real talent, he’s been doing it for a while. He’s really, really dangerous,” Mark Pope said of the 5-11 guard.

DRAYMOND GREEN 2.0?

Hubbard isn’t the only guy to keep an eye on. Pope also has senior forward Cameron Matthews at the top of his scouting report, comparing the dynamic playmaker to four-time NBA champion and All-Star Draymond Green. “He’s a really terrific, creative passer. He’s got an unbelievable sense of space and time away from the ball. He sees cutters, he can pass off the bounce, he can be really aggressive to the rim. He plays like a really, really big point guard. He’s a unique piece for them.” He’s averaging 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.5 steals per contest for the Bulldogs.

STILL LOOKING FOR NO. 200

Pope tried getting his 200th career victory back where it all started in Athens, a full-circle moment he couldn’t quite complete on Tuesday. Can he get the job done in Starkville? It’s on the table, the head coach entering this matchup with a 199-111 all-time record in his 10th season across three different schools. He’s 12-3 at Kentucky after finishes of 110-52 and 77-56 at BYU and Utah Valley, respectively. This could be a big one, too, as it would mark his first true road win of the season and coaching in the SEC.

CAN THE WILDCATS BOUNCE BACK ONCE AGAIN?

Kentucky is 2-0 this season coming off a loss, rebounding from the loss at Clemson with a 90-89 overtime victory in Seattle over Gonzaga — an 18-point comeback effort. After that, the Wildcats defeated Brown 88-54 coming off the loss to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic before the holiday break. Can they make it three in a row? Mississippi State will undoubtedly have something to say about it, sitting at 14-1 on the year and 4-0 in Quad 1 matchups, ranked No. 12 in the NET.

THE DENTIST HAS THE BULLDOGS ROLLING

Jon Rothstein nicknamed MSU head coach Chris Jans ‘The Dentist’ because playing the Bulldogs is like receiving a “root canal without novocaine.” They’re ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll, the highest under Jans, while starting this season 14-1 through 15 games for just the fifth time in program history and 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2012-13. State is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2007-08 and 2008-09.

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 Humphrey Coliseum 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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