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Kentucky Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
- Game Time: 7 pm ET
- Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
- TV Channel: ESPN has tonight’s TV coverage.
- Announcers: Calling the action will be Kevin Fitzgerald, Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith.
- Online Stream: WatchESPN, the ESPN app, or use a free trial of fuboTV.
- Replay: SEC Network (check local listings) or WatchESPN
- Listen: UK Sports Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt.
- Satellite Radio: Sirius 81 | XM 81 | SXM App 81
- Rosters: UK I OM
- Stats To Know: UK I OM
- Team Sheets: UK I OM
- Tickets
- Live Stats
- Digital Gameday Guide
- Odds: DraftKings has Kentucky favored by 16.5 points. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Cats an astounding 96.4% chance of victory on Tuesday night. KenPom gives the home team a 94% chance of winning. Barttorvik projected the Cats to be 15-point favorites with a 94% chance of winning.
- Predictions: KenPom projects an 80-62 triumph for the Cats, while Barrtovik is going with a 79-64 win for the home team. TeamRankings is going with a 77-61 victory, Kentucky!
- Senior Night Festivities: The pregame ceremony will begin at approximately 6:40 pm ET as Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz get one final sendoff. Kentucky will also live stream it at UKAthletics.com and on Facebook.
"You’re going to be a part of Big Blue Nation for the rest of your life."
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 1, 2022
A special surprise message from @KellanGrady31’s parents, Danielle and Rob Grady, before Senior Night pic.twitter.com/g2asfmbldF
"Everything you’ve done, you’ve done it with courage, tenacity and resilience."
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 1, 2022
A special surprise message from @deemintz1’s parents, Sandy and Sean Mintz, before Senior Night pic.twitter.com/vyJYErlPWz
The University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball program has been on a wild ride in the month of February. The Cats had to battle unexpected injuries coupled with a brutal schedule that was littered with challenging road games.
For the most part, they rose to the challenge and ended the month with what I will label as an impressive all-around performance, going 6-2 in February. Falling victim to a road loss against the likes of solid Tennessee and Arkansas teams is not something to be ashamed of.
The top-tier squads in the SEC have all protected their home court with extreme vigor this season, including Kentucky, who has yet to drop a game inside Rupp Arena all year.
Two of Kentucky’s losses — at Tennessee and at Auburn — are to teams who are currently unbeaten at home, while Arkansas has just one home defeat.
Just to put a finer point on that: The SEC’s top four teams are 64-1 at home. None of them has beaten any of the other three on the road. https://t.co/aIb3Br5VOK
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) February 27, 2022
Kentucky will have one more battle in Lexington when the Ole Miss Rebels come to town for a 7 pm ET tip-off on Tuesday night. ESPN will have the telecast in what will be the Cats’ last game played on a Tuesday in this 2021–2022 season.
This will also serve as the Wildcats’ Senior Day game, as they’ll be honoring graduate transfers Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz.
Barring a complete disaster, the Cats should be able to secure an undefeated home season by beating the second to last-place team in the conference.
It’s been a rough year for Kermit Davis’ 13-16 Rebels, who’ve won just four total conference games while sitting under .500 on the season.
Texas A&M beat them by double figures in Oxford on Saturday afternoon and were up by as many 25 points at one point in the contest.
Sophomore guard Matthew Murrell is the Rebels’ leading scorer at just 11 points per game, but the sophomore from Memphis can get hot if you let him. He dropped 20 points against the Aggies on Saturday and has a 31-point game under his belt earlier this year in a win over Mississippi State.
Another Rebel to watch for is senior guard Jarkel Joiner, who is averaging a team-high 14.1 points per game to go with 3.1 boards and 2.5 assists. That includes a 33-point outburst in the Rebels’ 97-83 loss at Alabama on February 9th.
Containing Murrell and Joiner will be priority number one for Kentucky defensively, but barring a complete meltdown, the Cats shouldn’t have many problems holding Ole Miss at or below their 68.5 point per game scoring average.
This one will be much more about how well Kentucky plays and if they’re able to relocate that same continuity established before Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington went down with injuries.
It was a struggle in Fayetteville as the Cats labored to put just 28 points up in the first half of a marquee matchup on national television. Kellan Grady had stepped up and acted as an offensive equalizer with Wheeler and Washington hobbled or out — but even he didn’t have it on Saturday.
If there is one thing in life that you can always depend on, it’s the dominance of one Oscar Tshiebwe. The big man from the Congo had another jaw-dropping performance at Arkansas. His 30-point, 18-rebound effort went a long way for his National Player of the Year resume.
I said this after the Arkansas loss, and I’ll say it again — the NCAA tournament isn’t played inside Bud Walton Arena. That fact should ease the minds of the Big Blue Nation heading into the SEC tournament that’s scheduled to begin on March 9th in sunny Tampa, Florida.
The Cats lead the all-time series against Ole Miss 108-14, and John Calipari has done his part by securing a 12-2 record versus the Rebels in his tenure at Kentucky. By all indications, the Wildcats’ last game in Rupp Arena should produce a favorable outcome.
It’s hard to believe that only two games remain in the regular season but that’s where we’re at.
Go Cats!!!