Kentucky is riding a two-game losing streak and going on the road to Tennessee for a game against one of the nation's best teams in a game with implications for seeding and the conference standings.
Cats Illustrated staff members give takes and predictions before the game as usual.
Jeff Drummond: Traditionally, this is a spot where I would be all-in on Kentucky. Three-game losing skids are rare for the Wildcats, and they have consistently over-performed when the fan base and media do not believe they can win a game. We’ve seen it in recent years in road wins at Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida when expectations were low. So it would not surprise me if the Cats gave the Vols a hard-fought game. That being said, I’m not sure this is a spot where UK is healthy enough to win against a team as strong as Tennessee on its home court. Andrew Carr (back) and Kerr Kriisa (foot) will likely be out again, and Lamont Butler looks like he is playing through issues of his own. Finding ways to score against an elite Volunteer defense will be a major challenge, especially when UK is struggling to find shots for Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea. Unless the Cats have a huge night from the 3-point arc, I don’t see a win here. Tennessee 77, Kentucky 69.
Travis Graf: There’s a couple of teams in the country that Kentucky matches up absolutely poorly with on paper and one of those is Tennessee. The Volunteers are one of the toughest and strongest teams in the country, and are great defensively. They also have strong guards that can’t really drive the ball, and Kentucky’s on ball defense against those kinds of players lacks, in addition to rim protection. I have a hard time seeing Kentucky going to Knoxville and beating Tennessee with them coming off of a tough loss to Auburn unless Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson go nuclear. Tough one for the Cats in a 85-73 loss.
Justin Rowland: There's a lot working against Kentucky in this game. They're going on the road to play against one of the best teams in the country, and the Volunteers have the make-up of a team that can consistently execute a script that has often frustrated these Cats. With Lamont Butler out Kentucky is down a couple of point guards and Andrew Carr is questionable. UK is riding a two-game losing streak and they didn't finish well the last time they were on the road, just this past Saturday. We've seen Kentucky rally and win against the odds on the road before, in recent years under Calipari, and UK has been much better than they were against the Dores but it's tough to pick a win here. Tennessee 78, Kentucky 71.
