KSR Staff Predictions: Kentucky vs. Nicholls

by: KSR12 hours ago

kentucky-vs-nicholls-ksr-staff-predictions — Kentucky cheerleaders perform at Rupp Arena - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

It’s finally here: Opening Night for Kentucky Basketball. Tonight, the Cats host Nicholls at Rupp Arena, the first matchup of the BBN United Tipoff Classic, presented by Kentucky Tourism (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).

Kentucky is a 29.5-point favorite vs. the Colonels, which compete in the Southland Conference. They finished 20-13 last season, their third under Tevon Saddler, the youngest active Division I coach in the country at just 30 years old. Only three players return from last year’s team: Jaylen Searles (6.5 points per game), Trae English (6.1 ppg), and Sincere Malone (5.6 ppg). Joining them are ten newcomers, nine from the transfer portal.

Will the Cats take care of business in game one, without Jaland Lowe and potentially, Denzel Aberdeen, the latter whose status remains uncertain? The KSR crew is ready to weigh in.

Drew Franklin

Kentucky Basketball tips off the 2025-26 season tonight in Rupp Arena, opening the prestigious BBN United Tipoff Classic presented by Kentucky Tourism against the Nicholls Colonels. While the opponent is new and unknown, the stakes are clear. This is Kentucky’s first chance to set the tone after an up-and-down preseason that included a big win over Purdue and a frustrating loss to Georgetown.

The Wildcats’ backcourt situation is still unknown as I write this. Obviously, having Lowe or Abderdeen in the lineup will add to my optimism. But even without them, I think Kentucky’s shooting and defense improve against Nicholls, leading to a comfortable win on Night 1.

Otega Oweh will be the high-scoring, leading off his second season with yet another double-digit scoring night. Trent Noah will hit three 3s.

Score: Kentucky 87, Nicholls 66

Tyler Thompson

Even without Jaland Lowe and potentially Denzel Aberdeen, Kentucky should take care of business tonight at Rupp Arena. Coming off the disappointing exhibition loss to Georgetown, I want to see the Cats sprint out of the gates and get the taste of last Thursday out of our mouths. Kentucky shot only 33% from the field and 23% from three vs. the Bulldogs, not making a single three in the second half. Hopefully, tonight, the Cats prove that was just a fluke.

After getting embarrassed at Rupp in the preseason, I think they will. Mo Dioubate will lead the charge on defense, and Kentucky’s shooters will find the bottom of the net en route to a feel-good win. Nicholls has ten newcomers, nine from the transfer portal. They’re athletic and not too dissimilar from Kentucky in that positions one through five can bring the ball up the floor. That said, Kentucky has a clear talent advantage and should run away with this one.

Score: Kentucky 90, Nicholls 62

Nick Roush

Nickels > Nicholls

Now, let me give you a penny for my thoughts. Collin Chandler struggled in Kentucky’s two exhibition contests. Those are hard lessons learned quickly. The time is right for the sophomore to take a step forward and he’s going to do that by knocking down a trio of three-point balls, while Mo Dioubate dominates the interior and gets some hard-earned buckets before the Wildcats pull away with a 20+ point win.

Score: Kentucky 88, Nicholls 60

Zack Geoghegan

Kentucky is going to win this one; the question will be by how much? The uncertain status of Lowe and Aberdeen makes that a bit more difficult to answer. And until I see this Kentucky team knock down 40 percent of its threes on high volume, I can’t predict them to break the 90-point threshold. But I do think we’ll see an excellent all-around defensive performance from the ‘Cats against a team that will quickly look overwhelmed offensively.

Pope will have the chance to dive deep into his bench no matter who is suiting up. Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter will get some run. I would love to see Kentucky shoot 12-30 from deep (or better). Nicholls has size, but not enough to keep it competitive down low. That being said, I do like what Trevon Saddler has done at Nicholls going into year three. He’s the youngest DI head coach at only 30 years old (!!!) and has back-to-back 20-win seasons. There are a lot of new transfers on this Nicholls roster.

Score: Kentucky 83, Nicholls 59

Jacob Polacheck

Kentucky gave fans the full experience of emotions in the preseason, knocking off No. 1-ranked Purdue, before being embarrassed by unranked Georgetown. What will happen in UK’s first regular-season matchup?

UK enters Tuesday’s game as a 29.5-point favorite over Nicholls, and I’m predicting the Cats to barely cover. Kentucky was 9-2 coming off a loss last season in Mark Pope’s first year as head coach. While this is just coming off an exhibition loss, Kentucky should still come out with fire to avenge its past performance.

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Even with uncertainty surrounding Denzel Aberdeen and Jaland Lowe, Kentucky’s backcourt is likely to play better than last game. UK also can’t shoot worse from beyond the arc than they did in the second half of the last game, so expect the Cats to make more of an impact from three. Mo Dioubate is an X-Factor for this team, and his toughness should bring an aspect to this Kentucky team that we didn’t see last season. Kentucky should cruise to victory to start the season 1-0.

Score: Kentucky 92, Nicholls 61

Jack Pilgrim

Georgetown came up with the perfect game plan at the right time with Kentucky missing both Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen. The Hoyas earned that convincing win fair and square, but that doesn’t mean the Wildcats are somehow no longer the Final Four contender their potential suggests they can be — they’re closer to what we saw vs. No. 1 Purdue. Also, Nicholls underwent a total rebuild this offseason with ten new faces and only three returning pieces, all averaging fewer than 7.0 points per game a year ago. Tevon Saddler is a great coach coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons, but he’s got his work cut out for him in 2025-26, replacing 1,866 of 2,443 total points scored. That starts with a really difficult matchup against Mark Pope’s squad inside Rupp Arena.

The Colonels have impressive size with seven players standing 6’7″ or taller, and 11 players are upperclassmen, but the talent and athleticism favor Kentucky in overwhelming fashion. Even if Lowe and/or Aberdeen are forced to miss this one — KSR is hearing both players have returned to practice at full speed, so it won’t be long either way — expect bounce-back games for Collin Chandler and Jasper Johnson with everything else falling into place just fine. Even if things are sloppy early, Kentucky rolls going into halftime and runs away with it in the second half.

Malachi Moreno is my MVP with a double-double while Johnson, Otega Oweh and Mo Dioubate join him to make up the double-figure scorers. Cats win comfortably to start 1-0.

Score: Kentucky 91, Nicholls 56

Adam Luckett

Kentucky had to eat some humble pie after the big win over Purdue when Georgetown ran away from the Cats at Rupp Arena. How will Mark Pope’s team respond? There could be some tough sledding until the starting backcourt returns to the lineup.

I believe we will see a more inspired effort from Kentucky’s team on Tuesday night, but Nicholls has been an outstanding three-point defense under head coach Tevon Saddler. Another lackluster perimeter shooting game allows the big underdog to hang around.

Kentucky controls this game throughout. However, this is probably not the feel-good blowout win that everyone wants to see.

Score: Kentucky 83, Nicholls 66