Sunday Quickies: On to LSU Edition

The Cats and the Tigers face off in a matchup for SEC supremacy

By Zac Oakes@ZacOakes Feb 16, 2020, 6:40am EST

NCAA Basketball: Mississippi at Kentucky

Two of the top teams in the SEC will face off Tuesday night, as the Kentucky Wildcats (20-5, 10-2 SEC) take on the LSU Tigers (18-7, 9-3 SEC).

The teams were tied atop the SEC standings along with Auburn before yesterday’s actions, in which Kentucky escaped an Ole Miss upset bid in Rupp Arena and LSU fell 88-82 on the road at Alabama.

Tuesday night figures to be a stiff challenge for the Wildcats, as the environment at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center figures to be raucous when the Cats come into town.

The Tigers are 6-0 in SEC play at home, so the homecourt advantage will definitely be in favor of the Tigers. Kentucky, on the other hand, is coming off of a performance to forget on Saturday where the Cats shot 2-22 from three-point land but were somehow able to squeeze out a victory.

The Tigers are led by guard Skyler Mays, averaging 16 points per game along with leading the team in steals with 2 per game. Tigers forward Emmitt Williams is also a player to watch out for, as he averages almost 14 points per game to go along with 7 rebounds.

A win in Baton Rouge Tuesday night would be a huge addition to Kentucky’s tournament resume. Projected mostly as a 4 or 5 seed in recent projections, a win would go a long way toward helping Kentucky trend upward to potentially land a 3 seed. Kentucky has some quality wins on its resume (Michigan State, Louisville, Texas Tech) but the Cats need a few more wins to negate the bad losses they have on their resume.

Tuesday night provides a major opportunity to not only add to their resume, but also bring home the regular season SEC championship.

And if you’re in the Baton Rouge area, there are still some tickets available for less than $20. Hopefully the Big Blue Nation makes the trip and is able to get in and help support the Cats.