The Kentucky Wildcats will make their return to Rupp Arena tonight after a two-game road trip when they host the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Mississippi State comes to Lexington 13-5 overall on the year with a 4-2 record in SEC play. Their four conference wins have come over then-ranked No. 24 Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Ole Miss while they’ve suffered losses to Florida and Ole Miss and also lost non-conference games to Louisville, Minnesota and Colorado State.
Junior guard Iverson Molinar is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer averaging 17.7 points per game.
Last season, Kentucky won the lone regular season matchup against the Bulldogs as Dontaie Allen’s 23 points guided the Cats to a 78-73 overtime win in Starkville, but Mississippi State got revenge by knocking Kentucky out of the SEC Tournament in the first round with a 74-73 victory in Nashville. The Bulldogs’ win was their first over UK in the John Calipari era.
Kentucky (15-4, 5-2) enters play still ranked 12th in the country despite their road 80-71 loss to now ranked No. 1 Auburn.
Can the Cats, who are 9.5-point favorites, take care of business, despite likely being without TyTy Washington and maybe Sahvir Wheeler? Make your prediction in the poll below:
Poll
Who wins Kentucky vs. Mississippi State?
This poll is closed
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90%
Kentucky
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9%
Mississippi State
Tweets of the Day:
Jacob Toppin says Kentucky has already spent time since Auburn on how to defend the lob. Walker Kessler was a nightmare on those Saturday.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) January 24, 2022
Practice makes perfect.
Highest graded SEC Edges this season:
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) January 18, 2022
Josh Paschal - 90.0
Will Anderson - 89.8
Kingsley Enagbare - 88.5
Nolan Smith - 84.5 pic.twitter.com/IFS3VSkMYk
A pretty impressive list to be ranked atop of.
Headlines
Antigua discusses the challenges Shaedon Sharpe faces- Cats Pause : Will we see the five-star mid-season signee this season?
Why John Calipari wants NCAA to ban the play that injured Sahvir Wheeler twice - Louisville Courier Journal: An interesting take from Coach Cal.
UW adds former Kentucky CB Cedrick Dort via transfer portal - Bucky’s 5th Quarter: Cedrick Dort is transferring to Wisconsin to play in the Big Ten for the Badgers.
Yahoo Sports 2022 NBA Mock Draft 4.0: Stock risers in the first round: Yahoo Sports: Shaedon Sharpe is a projected top 10 pick here.
UK Announces 2022 Football Season Ticket Information - UK Athletics: For those interested in purchasing football season tickets new information has been released.
2022 NFL Mock Draft: Only one quarterback taken early; edge rusher and O-line dominate top 10- CBS Sports: Is Darian Kinnard trending towards being a Day 2 pick?
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale to take rest of season off in preparation for vocal surgery- ESPN: Sending continued prayers to the legendary Dicky V!
Tigers MLB lockout: League, players union will be back at bargaining table tomorrow- Michigan Live: Is progress being made to end the MLB lockout?