Kentucky and North Carolina have already played a common opponent this season

by: Zack Geoghegan4 hours agoZGeogheganKSR

Aside from their Blue Blood status, Kentucky and North Carolina share another commonality, one that could factor into Tuesday night’s battle in Rupp Arena — unfortunately, it’s not exactly a fun one to talk about.

Both the Wildcats and Tar Heels have already lost to Michigan State early on in the 2025-26 season.

The Spartans won those games within nine days of each other. Tom Izzo‘s squad smacked Kentucky on Nov. 18 in New York City, 83-66, before doing the same to North Carolina, 74-58, down in Fort Myers, Florida, on Thanksgiving. Michigan State, which debuted at No. 10 in the first NET rankings update of the season, was able to overmatch UK and UNC with relative ease.

As Mark Pope and Hubert Davis prepare for Tuesday’s showdown, they’ll use that Michigan State film to hopefully gain an edge once the ball is tipped in Lexington. Kentucky guard Otega Oweh said during his media availability on Monday that the entire team watched the MSU-UNC game at some point to pick up on some of the Tar Heels’ tendencies.

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“That game came down to the last seven minutes of the game,” Sophomore guard Collin Chandler said on Monday. “It was pretty even for the first 33 minutes. I think that’s what it’s gonna come down to with North Carolina, with other teams, is just a breaking point and beating a team to that breaking point. I think Michigan State beat them to the breaking point. I think that’s the challenge for us going forward with teams is outlasting them and their energy.”

Similar to how Kentucky lost to Michigan State, North Carolina trailed for the majority of the night, but the Tar Heels did a better job of at least keeping it close down the stretch. The Spartans led for over 31 minutes of game time, but as Chandler said, it was just a three-point game with seven minutes to go. Then the dam began to break. MSU closed the contest on a 19-6 run to seal the 16-point win.

Considering how poorly Kentucky and North Carolina played against the Spartans, it might just be a wash in terms of what the other team can take from that film and use against each other this week. But Pope and Davis will certainly use it to see what can translate on Tuesday night.