No. 9 Kentucky at Vanderbilt: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

After a week off, it’s time for the Kentucky Wildcats to return to action, this time against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. Led by first-year coach Mark Byington, it’s the best start for the program in a decade and a half, sitting comfortably at 15-4 on the year with a very real chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Another Quad 1 opportunity for Mark Pope, can the Cats get back on track after a heartbreaking loss vs. No. 4 Alabama inside Rupp Arena last weekend?

KSR has everything you need to know about the head-to-head battle inside Memorial Gym.

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt: How to Watch, Listen

• Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
• 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 160 or 191
• 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 19

• 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

Vanderbilt: KenPom 47

• 11/4: 102-63 W vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
• 11/10: 85-76 W vs. Southeast Missouri
• 11/13: 85-69 W vs. California
• 11/16: 94-81 W vs. Jackson State
• 11/21: 73-71 W vs. Nevada
• 11/24: 76-60 W vs. Seton Hall
• 11/29: 81-70 L vs. Drake
• 12/4: 87-56 W vs. Tennessee Tech
• 12/8: 80-64 W at Virginia Tech
• 12/18: 83-74 W vs. TCU
• 12/21: 105-53 W vs. The Citadel
• 12/30: 85-55 W vs. Austin Peay
• 1/4: 80-72 W at LSU
• 1/7: 76-64 L vs. No. 14 Mississippi State
• 1/11: 75-66 L at Missouri
• 1/15: 66-63 W vs. South Carolina
• 1/18: 76-75 W vs. No. 6 Tennessee
• 1/21: 103-87 L at No. 4 Alabama

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 157-49 including a 62-27 record on the road at Vanderbilt. The Wildcats won both matchups in 2023-24, starting with a 109-77 win in Nashville back on Feb. 6, followed by a 93-77 victory back home in Lexington on Senior Day on March 6. Antonio Reeves led all scorers in the first with 24 points while Rob Dillingham added 20. Dillingham led the way with 23 in the second with Reeves right behind with 20.

Mark Byington, in his first season at Vanderbilt, is 0-0 against the Wildcats while Mark Pope is 0-1 against the Commodores — he lost 69-67 in the 2021 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. As a player, Pope was 4-0 against Vandy, averaging 10.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest in the series.

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt Odds

Spread: Kentucky -3.5
Total: 162

KenPom and Bart Torvik both project wins for UK, the former going with an 85-83 victory and the latter rolling with an 86-85 final score — close calls. ESPN’s BPI likes the Wildcats by 2.4 points while giving the road team a 59.4 percent chance to pull off the win.

Kentucky Projected Starters

#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.6 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.9 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
15.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.7 SPG

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

#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG

#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
9.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.6 BPG

Vanderbilt Projected Starters

#1 – Jason Edwards
6-1 – 175 – GUARD – JUNIOR
17.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.4 APG

#11 – AJ Hoggard
6-4 – 210 – GUARD – GRADUATE SENIOR
11.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 4.4 APG

#5 – Tyler Nickel
6-7 – 200 – GUARD – JUNIOR
10.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.0 APG

#30 – Chris Mañon
6-5 – 215 – FORWARD – GRADUATE SENIOR
4.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.3 APG

#99 – Devin McGlockton
6-7 – 220 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
10.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 0.9 APG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Interesting stats from UK’s game notes:

• Lamont Butler was tabbed a midseason second-team All-American by The Sporting News after averaging a career-best 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals while also shooting a career-high 52.4 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from three.
• The Cats are in the midst of playing three straight games against teams they’ll see a second time in league play. Alabama was the first, followed by Vanderbilt and then Tennessee in back-to-back-to-back matchups. They’ll play them all again on Feb. 22, 19 and 11, respectively.
• Kentucky has bounced back from every loss it has suffered this season with a win in its next game.
• 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 15.7 PPG.
• Every opponent Kentucky has faced in league play, including Vandy, has been ranked or received votes in the AP Top 25. All six opponents have also ranked inside the top 40 of the NET.

Pregame Storylines

MEMORIAL MAGIC?

It’s Pope’s first trip to Memorial Gym since his playing days as a Wildcat. He remembers what it’s like to play in the unique setup, one that puts the team benches on the baseline, not the sidelines. For that reason, they’ve recreated the setup in practice this week to prepare while also piping in crowd noise. It’s a different look in a difficult environment with this game sold out for several weeks now — and the building riding high coming off a top-10 upset vs. No. 6 Tennessee just a week ago. Can they recreate that same Memorial Magic? Kentucky is preparing in hopes of avoiding just that.

EXPERIENCE VS. EXPERIENCE

We know about Kentucky’s total roster rebuild once Pope took the job back in the spring with Travis Perry being the only holdover. Vanderbilt is in a similar boat under Mark Byington, who brought in seven players with no previous connection to the Commodores or the first-year coach with those pieces making up 81.8 percent of the team’s scoring. The entire roster features 11 incoming transfers with their nine leading scorers — every player averaging at least two points per game — new in black and gold. “What an unbelievable job that staff has done on constructing this team and putting together pieces that fit and having guys fully buy in,” Pope said of the ‘Dores.

TURNING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS

The Commodores rank No. 19 nationally in forced turnovers (15.7), No. 6 in turnover margin (+5.6) and No. 16 in turnover rate, committing a TO on just 14.3 percent of possessions. They also rank No. 28 nationally in turnovers, coughing it up just 10.2 times per contest with an assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.45 — good for No. 47 in the country. They’ve forced double-digit turnovers in 18 of 19 games this season with 12 games of 15-plus. “They’re leading the country now in turnovers turned into points. They’re really effective at doing that,” Pope said. As a team, Vandy is scoring 82.3 points per game, good for No. 32 nationally.

UNDERSIZED — BUT PHYSICAL WITH SOME JUICE ON THE GLASS

Vanderbilt has no scholarship player taller than 6-8, ranked No. 302 nationally in terms of average height. Where they lack size and length, though, they make up for it with versatility and toughness. 6-7, 230-pound forward Devin McGlockton has particularly caught Pope’s eye, coming in with four double-doubles and leading the SEC in offensive rebounding at 3.5 per game. “They’re also really physical on the glass. I mean, one of the top rebounders in the league is their undersized starting center, right? No. 99 (McGlockton) is — he’s unbelievable.”

CATS GET HEALTHY

With no mid-week matchup between games, Pope said healing during Kentucky’s time off was ‘key number one’ leading up to the trip to Nashville. Nothing is more important than getting Andrew Carr and Lamont Butler — along with everyone else dealing with bumps and bruises — back to full strength. “We’ve got to take advantage of it,” he said.

Where do things stand against the Commodores? “It’s better than it was a few days ago, that’s for sure. … We’re doing better. Really grateful for this week because it at least helps us make some progress,” Pope said.

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 Memorial Gym 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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