Cats Illustrated writers sound off with takes and predictions on Kentucky's game against Gonzaga tonight.
Jeff Drummond: This new miniseries with Gonzaga has not begun on a good note for Kentucky. The Bulldogs hammered the Wildcats two years ago, then returned to Lexington last season to comfortably handle one of the most ill-prepared John Calipari teams we ever witnessed in Rupp Arena. Safe to say Mark Pope & Co. will not get caught off-guard or fail to make adjustments, but can UK win in pro-Zags Seattle? For that to happen, the Cats need to turn around their recent shooting slump from the 3-point arc. They’ve shot less than 27% from deep in the last three games. That won’t cut it on Saturday. I think the tempo will be more favorable than the one we saw on Tuesday at Clemson, so if you subscribe to the “due theory” and the Cats knock down 10-plus treys, I think UK can win this one. Kentucky 83, Gonzaga 79 with Koby Brea bouncing back strong as my MVP.
Travis Graf: This game comes down to Lamont Butler’s health for me. If he plays, I think Kentucky wins, and I’m going to approach this prediction as if he’s playing until I hear otherwise. Gonzaga’s rim protection isn’t great and I think this is a good game for Butler and Oweh to get downhill. I think Kentucky’s big men match up better with the Bulldogs’ bigs than they did Clemson’s. Kentucky has to hit open shots that they missed earlier in the week. Kobe Brea has a big game and leads Kentucky to a 85-82 win.
David Sisk: This will be a tough egg to crack. Gonzaga is really good with a lot of players back off a strong team from last year. A lot is going to come down to whether Lamont Butler plays. If so, there is the issue of how healthy his ankle is. I do like Kentucky’s ability to defend. That will keep them in the game either way. Maybe in Rupp, but another road game against a top five to ten team will be a little too much. Gonzaga 84 Kentucky 76
Justin Rowland: Gonzaga is a very different team than Clemson and I expect this one will be higher scoring. Kentucky will have something to prove and a lot of it will depend on Lamont Butler. They were much better with him than with Kriisa against Clemson. But the Zags are going to be very tough out there and I need to see Kentucky start knocking down more outside shots. Zags 85, Cats 81.
