Kentucky vs. Indiana: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

Well, here goes nothing. Kentucky‘s next test is here after failing the first four, Mark Pope and the Wildcats desperate to get in the win column against a name-brand foe after starting the year 0-4. It’ll have to come against the Indiana Hoosiers, led by former UK portal target Lamar Wilkerson, who is coming off a 44-point explosion just days ago.

Do they have what it takes? KSR breaks down the matchup as we prepare for tipoff inside Rupp Arena.

Kentucky vs. Indiana: How to Watch, Listen

• Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN (Dave O’Brien, Charles Barkley, Dick Vitale)
• Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Online: iHeart Radio
• Sirius XM: TBA

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Season Rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 20

• 11/4: 77-51 W vs. Nicholls
• 11/7: 107-59 W vs. Valparaiso
• 11/11: 96-88 L at No. 12 Louisville
• 11/14: 99-53 W vs. Eastern Illinois
• 11/18: 83-66 L vs. No. 17 Michigan State
• 11/21: 88-46 W vs. Loyola (Md.)
• 11/26: 104-54 W vs. Tennessee Tech
• 12/2: 67-64 L vs. No. 16 North Carolina
• 12/5: 94-59 L vs. No. 11 Gonzaga
• 12/9: 103-67 W vs. NC Central

Indiana: KenPom 21

• 11/5: 98-51 W vs. Alabama A&M
• 11/9: 100-77 W vs. Marquette
• 11/12: 101-70 W vs. Milwaukee
• 11/16: 69-61 W vs. Incarnate Word
• 11/20: 73-53 W vs. Lindenwood
• 11/25: 86-69 W vs. Kansas State
• 11/29: 100-56 W vs. Bethune Cookman
• 12/3: 73-64 L at Minnesota
• 12/6: 87-78 L vs. Louisville
• 12/9: 113-72 W vs. Penn State

Series History

Kentucky and Indiana have met 57 times with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 32-25 — including a 10-3 lead in Lexington. They renew the historic rivalry after last meeting in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016. The last regular-season meeting came on Dec. 10, 2011.

Neither coach, however, has taken on the other program — Mark Pope 0-0 against IU and Darian DeVries 0-0 against UK. As a player, Pope went 2-0 against the Hoosiers, starting with a 73-70 win in Louisville in his first season as a Wildcat, followed by an 89-82 win in Indianapolis during the 1995-96 season.

Kentucky vs. Indiana Odds

The Wildcats have struggled against top competition, but the oddsmakers still give the advantage to the home team with Kentucky opening as a 5.5-point favorite at Rupp Arena — although the line has since dropped to UK -3.5, according to our friends at BetMGM. The total sits at 159.5 with a projected score of 81.5-78.

As for the computers, KenPom is calling for a 78-74 win for the Cats while Bart Torvik is going with a final score of 77-75. Kentucky is 4-6 against the spread (ATS) this season and has not covered in three straight games. Indiana is 6-4 ATS with a 3-2 record against high-major competition.

Thanks to Friends of Coal for powering KSR’s game day coverage.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#1 – Denzel Aberdeen
6-5 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG

#5 – Collin Chandler
6-5 – 205 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
11.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.0 APG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – SENIOR
14.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.4 APG

#9 – Trent Noah
6-5 – 220 – FORWARD – SOPHOMORE
6.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.0 APG

#24 – Malachi Moreno
7-0 – 250 – CENTER – FRESHMAN
10.1 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.5 APG

Indiana Potential Starters

#6 – Tayton Conerway
6-3 – 190 – GUARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR
12.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.9 SPG

#5 – Conor Enright
6-1 – 180 – GUARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR
3.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.9 APG

#3 – Lamar Wilkerson
6-6 – 205 – GUARD – SENIOR
18.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.6 APG

#12 – Tucker DeVries
6-7 – 225 – FORWARD – SENIOR
17.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.4 APG

#4 – Sam Alexis
6-9 – 240 – FORWARD – SENIOR
9.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.5 APG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Otega Oweh has scored in double figures in all ten games and has reached double figures in 43 of 46 games during his time at Kentucky.
• UK has had eight different leading scorers or co-leaders through the first ten games and four players have hit the 20-point mark.
• In addition to Jayden Quaintance missing each of the first ten games, UK has been without Jaland Lowe (six games), Mo Dioubate (five games) and Trent Noah (one game) this season.
• UK made 12 3-pointers on Tuesday. The Cats are 20-4 under Pope and 4-1 this season when making at least ten and are 5-0 this year when making at least 36 percent of 3-point attempts.
• Kentucky is 8-0 under Mark Pope when scoring 100-plus points after going for 103 vs. NC Central earlier in the week.

Pregame Storylines

TIME TO WIN THE BIG ONE

It’s odd to call any December game a must-win, but that’s been the case three straight times for Kentucky to open the month. Against North Carolina, it was to get the stink off of the Wildcats after Louisville and Michigan State, proving November was just a one-month blip. Then Gonzaga was about proving this group wasn’t a total fraud, despite being hyped as a preseason Final Four contender — only to lose that one by 35 while getting booed off the floor.

Now, it’s about acknowledging our expectations have been reset and salvaging this season. Our eyes aren’t on banner No. 9 right now, they’re on actually making the NCAA Tournament and chipping away from this rock-bottom start. Lose this one and you’re in serious danger going into St. John’s next week and the start of SEC play in January. Have to win this one for any shot at righting the ship.

WELCOME BACK TO LEXINGTON, LAMAR WILKERSON

The last time the Sam Houston State transfer was in Lexington, he was hanging out with horses and Mark Pope as the sharpshooter decided between the Wildcats and Hoosiers. Now, Lamar Wilkerson will look to beat Kentucky wearing the Candy Stripes at Indiana. It took a nice pay bump and a staff hire to seal the deal for Darian DeVries this offseason, but he got it done, and his ability to close has paid off in the form of Wilkerson leading the team with 18.8 points per game on 47/43/79 splits while coming off a record-shattering 44-point effort on 10 made 3-pointers on Tuesday vs. Penn State.

“We love shooters. We love guys that make shots, and he’s made a career of doing that,” Pope said of Wilkerson. “He’s got a toughness to him that’s pretty great. I love him as a kid. He’s actually a great young man. He’s all the good things. He earned his way, he worked his way up to where he is right now. He’s a terrific player.”

He’ll be at the top of the scouting report for the Wildcats.

THE RETURN OF A HISTORIC RIVALRY

Kentucky signed a four-year agreement with Indiana to bring back a classic rivalry between historic programs, starting in Lexington, followed by back-to-back games at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2026 and Rupp Arena in 2027, respectively, before returning to Assembly Hall in Bloomington in 2028.

It’s a nostalgic matchup between two teams that need a statement win.

“I love this game,” Pope said on Friday. “I love all these games, I mean, I love them all. And this is Indiana-Kentucky… I love the game. I have such great memories of playing in these games, and I like it for us, I like it for fans, and I like it for Indiana, and I think it’s a great game.”

CAN JALAND LOWE FIND HIS GROOVE?

We thought NC Central was the perfect tune-up game for Lowe coming back from a shoulder injury, only to find out he had been benched for the first half, going on to finish with zero points, two assists and one turnover in eight second-half minutes.

“I thought Jaland was really good,” Pope said of the limited appearance. “He is just a play-making guy, like it’s in his DNA. He’s got a point guard vibe to him that is unique on our roster. It’s really important. We’re dealing with a lot of stuff with J-Lowe, you know, his health is always going to be a major part of this. We try to keep his minutes a little bit restricted. I thought he was terrific.”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, is this the time for the breakout performance? He was an All-ACC contributor a year ago at Pitt and was an All-SEC preseason pick going into the year for a reason — but we haven’t seen anything close to that, averaging just 4.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per contest across four games.

Kentucky needs Jaland Lowe to be Jaland Lowe, sooner rather than later.

HOW LONG UNTIL WE SEE MO DIOUBATE AND/OR JAYDEN QUAINTANCE?

For the first time ever, Kentucky was full-go across the board in practice — and for back-to-back days this week, starting on Thursday and then keeping that momentum going on Friday. The Wildcats already got Lowe back, and now, it’s about getting Mo Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance out there on the floor in live game action.

This week was a massive step toward that.

“(Thursday) was a really significantly special day because we had a half-court segment and it was semi-controlled contact,” Pope said Friday. “For the first time ever, including in the summer, we had all of our guys on the practice floor.”

Pope called Dioubate’s return a “Christmas miracle” while saying his status vs. Indiana was still up in the air.

“Maybe. We’ll see. I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see, maybe. I mean, he certainly could help us.”

As for Quaintance, Pope said “we’re hoping now that we’re into the days and weeks more than we are the months, which is exciting.”

Dioubate is a maybe, Quaintance is a no — but both are close enough to get excited if you’re Big Blue Nation.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during the game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears in Lexington while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction from Rupp Arena immediately after the game, live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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