Kentucky Wildcats vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Game Thread

It was a disappointing weekend for the Kentucky Wildcats but tonight will be a good opportunity to get back on the right foot as the Mississippi State Bulldogs come into Rupp Arena.

This is the first meeting between the Wildcats and Bulldogs. MSU comes in at 14-5 (2-4 SEC) and have lost four of their last five games after getting off to a hot start to begin the season. So far, the Bulldogs hold home wins over Arkansas and Vanderbilt in league play. Saturday night, they fell on the road at Alabama by a score of 68-62.

This Bulldogs squad will be no pushover for the Wildcats as they look to get things turned around after losing back-to-back games against South Carolina and Florida. Although Kentucky is the favorite, the Bulldogs have the pieces to push the Wildcats and even pull the upset if Kentucky’s inconsistencies on both ends of the floor arise again.

Quinndary and Nick Weatherspoon are dangerous scorers for the Bulldogs, and former Kentucky Mr. Basketball finalist Aric Holman of Owensboro has made significant strides in his junior year, averaging around 12 points and 7 rebounds per game on 62 percent shooting from the floor and is coming off back-to-back double doubles against Vanderbilt and Alabama.

Needless to say, tonight will not be an easy one for the Wildcats and they will have to show significant improvement to defeat the Bulldogs.

To get you ready for the game, we compiled some links for all your pre-game reading to make sure you’re the smartest person in the room.

Links

For all your necessary info, including start time, odds, predictions, and how to watch, you can find that here.

John Calipari previewed Mississippi State and talked about recruiting. You can read what Calipari talked about here.

ESPN’s new recruiting rankings were pretty favorable for the future Cats. Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro saw significant jumps in their rankings.

In case you were off the grid, the big news yesterday was that Kentucky dropped out of the AP Top 25 rankings for the first time since 2014. It’s a big deal, but the sky isn’t falling.

ICYMI: E.J. Montgomery, ranked 15th in the 247 Composite but ranked 6th by 247 Sports, is apparently being recruited by Kentucky. Montgomery decommitted from Auburn in September after the news of the FBI investigation.

So settle in and get ready for tonight’s late tip-off and stay here and join in on the fun!