Kentucky‘s first SEC road test has been passed. Now it’s time for the Wildcats’ first home conference matchup of 2024 — a revenge battle against Missouri. UK opened league play with a double-digit loss in Columbia last season, the first of six SEC losses that group would go on to take. Led by Dennis Gates, the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament in year one under the 43-year-old coach, but are off to a rough 8-6 start this time around.
Can the Cats continue building momentum in the conference? Let’s preview the matchup.
How To Watch
No. 6 Kentucky (11-2) vs. Missouri (8-6) 7 p.m. ET | Tuesday, January 9 | Rupp Arena
TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes)
Streaming: WatchESPN
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 190
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Team Records
No. 6 Kentucky: 10-2 (KenPom: 17)
11/6: 86-46 W vs. New Mexico State
11/10: 81-61 W vs. Texas A&M-Commerce (Wildcat Challenge)
11/14: 89-84 L vs. No. 1 Kansas
11/17: 101-67 W vs. Stonehill (Wildcat Challenge)
11/20: 96-88 OT W vs. Saint Joseph’s (Wildcat Challenge)
11/24: 118-82 W vs. Marshall
11/28: 95-73 W vs. No. 8 Miami (FL)
12/2: 80-73 L vs. UNC-Wilmington
12/9: 81-66 W vs. Penn
12/16: 87-83 W vs. No. 9 North Carolina
12/21: 95-76 W at Louisville
12/29: 96-70 W vs. Illinois State
1/6: 87-85 W at Florida
Missouri: 8-6 (KenPom: 102)
11/6: 101-79 W vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
11/10: 70-55 L vs. Memphis
11/13: 68-50 W vs. SIU Edwardsville
11/16: 70-68 W at Minnesota
11/19: 73-72 L vs. Jackson State
11/22: 82-59 W vs. South Carolina State
11/25: 78-70 W vs. Loyola Maryland
11/28: 71-64 W at Pittsburgh
12/3: 82-72 W vs. Wichita State
12/9: 73-64 L at No. 2 Kansas
12/17: 93-87 L vs. Seton Hall
12/22: 97-73 L vs. No. 13 Illinois
12/30: 92-59 W vs. Central Arkansas
1/6: 75-68 L vs. Georgia
Series History
Kentucky leads the all-time series 14-3, but Missouri has won two of the past three matchups dating back to the 2020-21 season — both wins at home. Second-year coach Dennis Gates is 1-0 against John Calipari following an 89-75 upset win in Columbia last season, a matchup that saw star forward Kobe Brown go for 30 points for the Tigers. Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 23 points and 19 rebounds while Cason Wallace added 19 points in the loss.
Overall, though, Coach Cal is an impressive 10-3 in the series, including 6-0 inside Rupp Arena.
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Kentucky vs. Missouri Odds via FanDuel
Spread: Kentucky -12.5 Total: 162.5
Kentucky Projected Starters
(Starting lineup based on the last game)
#21 – DJ Wagner 6-4 • 192 • GUARD • FRESHMAN 12.1 PPG, 3.5 APG
Head Coach: Dennis Gates (2nd season at Missouri, 5th overall): 33-16 at Mizzou, 83-56 overall
Statistical Comparison
(via Kentucky’s game notes)
Fun stats from UK’s game notes:
The Wildcats rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit at Florida on Saturday. It’s the second time this season they have overcome an 11-point deficit (Texas A&M-Commerce). It marked the largest halftime deficit (8) overcome on the road since March 7, 2020 (10) at Florida.
UK is 8-0 against Missouri at home in the series’ history. The Wildcats are also 13-1 under Calipari in the first SEC home game of the season.
Kentucky ranks among the top 10 nationally in points per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, fastbreak points and 3-point percentage.
Pregame Storylines
REMATCH VS. DENNIS GATES
Kentucky’s trip to Columbia last season set the tone for the rest of conference play. It was an upset win that gave Gates an early spark as one of the hottest up-and-coming coaching names in the country, Missouri ultimately winning a tournament game for the first time since 2010. Things aren’t going as well in year two with six early losses — one a Quad 4 to Jackson State — and the Tigers are desperate for a statement win. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are looking for revenge at home to ruin the second-year coach’s undefeated start in the series.
FORCING TURNOVERS AND LAUNCHING THREES
Missouri’s all-around production won’t blow you away, scoring just 76.5 points (No. 148) while giving up 71.3 (No. 177) and shooting just 45.2% from the field. The Tigers are also abysmal on the glass, pulling down just 34 rebounds per game (No. 280) with a margin of -2.8 (No. 293). They do, however, force 14.5 turnovers per game (No. 61) with an overall margin of 3.0 (No. 51) while launching 26.5 threes per game (No. 40) with 9.1 makes (No. 55). That’s only a 34.3% clip (No. 152), but this is also Rupp Arena we’re talking about — everyone finds ways to get hot. Mizzou will get the shots up to have a chance while being disruptive on defense.
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A LOUISVILLE NATIVE LEADS MIZZOU
There are some Kentucky ties at play here in the battle of Cats vs. Tigers — a homecoming of sorts for Missouri’s star player. Back for his final year of eligibility, Sean East II is originally from Louisville before closing out his high school career as a 1,000-point scorer and an Indiana All-Star selection at New Albany High School. East started his college basketball career at UMass before transferring to Bradley, then going down a level to John A. Logan Community College before bouncing back up to the high-major level at Missouri. He has scored in double figures all but two games this season, averaging 17.1 points per contest overall.
Join The Discussion on KSBoard
For the first time in over a decade, KSR will be without its in-game live blogs, a longtime tradition here on the blog. Unfortunately, the company that hosted the KSR live blogs no longer exists, so we are without the machine that made it all possible.
If you still want to interact with the KSR crew, consider joining the conversation on KSBoard. New members can try 1 month for $1.
Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel
Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with Rapid Reactions live from Rupp Arena on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from John Calipari and the players, stats, and takeaways.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Kentucky’s general assembly is currently on a break after convening for four days to start 2025 legislative session.
However, hundreds of bills were filed in those four days.
“I feel like too many young people are committing act of violence with guns and we need to get it under control,” said Rep. Kim Banta (R-Ft. Mitchell).
Republican Rep. Banta said House Bill 55 does not just apply to guns.
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“My party asked me they said, ‘look why pick on guns, why not any weapon?’,” she said. “And so, I changed it and so if you buy your child a machete and they choose to put it in their backpack and go to school and harm people, you’re going to be held accountable for it.”
The bill would make parents or guardians civilly liable for injury caused by a destructive device, explosive, firearm or other deadly weapon. The bill would apply to legal guardians who allow the minor to have the device, know that the minor has a delinquent history or knows that the intended use is to commit a crime.
“Anything that we can do that may deter a horrific crime would be something I’m all about,” said Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville).
Democratic Rep. Bojanowski said she is cosponsoring House Bill 55 because as a teacher, she said it is important for parents or legal guardians to have a pulse on their child.
“You know maybe yeah your son really enjoys hunting and you gave them this knife, but you may want to think twice if he’s been accused and found guilty of a crime already,” said Rep. Bojanowski.
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As the session continues, Rep. Banta said she hopes to convey that the bill is not about taking away guns or imposing restrictions.
Kentucky’s House of Representatives and Senate will meet for part II of the 2025 legislative session on Feb. 4.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Led by Clara Strack with 25 points and Georgia Amoore with 24 points, No. 12 Kentucky defeated Georgia 78-64 on Sunday.
Strack made 9 of 19 shots and 6 of 7 free throws. She had 12 rebounds to complete her fourth double-double this season. Amelia Hassett had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double this season and Amoore had eight assists.
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Trinity Turner scored 19 points and De’Mauri Flournoy had 19 of Georgia’s 21 bench points.
Kentucky dominated the first quarter, building a 23-4 lead. All three players who scored for the Wildcats — Amoore (11 points), Strack (6) and Hassett (6) — outscored Georgia. The Bulldogs made one of 16 shots.
Kentucky led 44-31 at halftime before being outscored by nine points in the second half.
After the disastrous first quarter, Georgia battled back and got as close as 69-57 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. A layup by Asia Avinger had Georgia within 12 points again, 73-61, with a minute to go but Amoore hit a jumper and Cassidy Rowe made 3 of 4 free throws to close it out.
The Wildcats are 16-1 overall and 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference, marking their fourth-best start to a season through 17 games in program history and their best start to league action since 2012-13. That season, the Cats won their first six conference games.
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The win for the Wildcats was their 15th by at least 10 points but the 14-point margin ended a streak of six straight wins by 16 points or more.
Kentucky visits Texas A&M on Thursday.
Georgia (9-11, 1-5 SEC) is idle until a road game next Sunday against No. 13 Oklahoma. ___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
We all knew a shootout was coming when Kentucky hosted Alabama on Saturday. Odds were decent that the first team to triple-digits would leave Rupp Arena victorious. Unfortunately, Kentucky ended up on the wrong side.
The Tide won the three-point attempt (34-27) and free throw attempt battle (34-20). Nate Oats saw his team win the shot volume battle and that was enough to knock off the Cats.
KSR Today is taking a look back at the loss and a look ahead to another Sunday Funday for Kentucky women’s basketball and the NFL playoffs.
KSR recaps Kentucky’s first home loss of the season
KSR has you covered from every angle as we recap what all went wrong for Kentucky against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
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Smash those links.
More postgame coverage on KSR’s YouTube Channel
Want to know what Mark Pope, Otega Oweh, Brandon Garrison, and Ansley Almonor said after the game? We’ve got you covered. KSR’s YouTube Channel has the postgame press conferences and a Rapid Reaction featuring our staff wrapping up the tough loss.
Smash play. Subscribe. Hit that like button as we talk about some Kentucky hoops.
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Kentucky WBB hits the road to face Georgia
Kenny Brooks has led his first Kentucky team to a 15-1 (4-0) start and is riding eight consecutive victories. But the Wildcats will be playing a road game on Sunday for the first time since the loss to No. 16 North Carolina on Dec. 5.
Georgia (9-10, 1-4) has struggled this season. Before the season, the Lady Bulldogs were picked to finishing 14th in the SEC.
KSR will have live in-game and postgame coverage as UK looks to improve to 5-0 in league play. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET. The game will stream on ESPN+.
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NFL Divisional Round wraps up
The football was not boring on Saturday. Kansas City beat Houston in a slugfest as the Texans fall to 0-7 all-time in the divisional round. Then Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders shocked the football world when they took out the best team in football.
That sets the table for Sunday with two championship game participants locked in. The No. 6 seed Commanders could play an NFC East game next weekend and will hit the road for the NFC Championship no matter what happens in Philadelphia today. The Chiefs will host the winner of Baltimore-Buffalo.
Buckle in for some more playoff football.
No. 4 seed Los Angeles Rams at No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles (3pm ET | NBC)
No. 3 seed Baltimore Ravens at No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills (6:30pm ET | CBS)
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