Jan 25, 2022; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari yells to his players during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
Kentucky vs. Kansas is shaping up to be one of the marquee matchups of the 2023 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
The Wildcats are hosting KU in this matchup as they look to secure a key nonconference victory for their NCAA Tournament résumé. Kentucky needs to pull off the win to stay off the bubble, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Several ESPN experts predicted the winner and final score of this game as part of the network’s preview of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Here are their predictions:
Of the panel of experts, only Medcalf is picking Kentucky to win the game. Here’s an excerpt of his analysis:
“But this is a hot Kentucky team. The starting lineup of Chris Livingston, Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin and Tshiebwe has held opponents to just 85 points per 100 possessions and snatched 42% of its missed shots during this four-game run, per hooplens.com.”
Kentucky has won 3 straight games entering this matchup. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks are on a 3-game losing streak as they grind through the Big 12 gauntlet.
Kentucky and Kansas have met 34 times previously. The Wildcats have a 24-10 record in those contests.
Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
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Win or lose I’m not a Calipari fan! All Kansas has to do is shut Oscar down and they win. Kansas matches up well with KY and Kansas can’t afford to lose another game in a row. Kansas should make KY shoot outside. KY is still not a great shooting team overall like TN or Bama. Hopefully im wrong! I hate Kansas. I just hope KY can knock down the threes if Oscar is double teamed.
Atlas, Kentucky Basketball was shut down for the better part of 3 seasons, this is not on Calipari.
Kansas is the winningest program and that happened on Calipari’s tenure. KY is definitely not a final four team much less a sweet 16 team. Just not consistent enough. If KY doesn’t do better next year they should can Calipari