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

The Wildcats had plenty of fun on the road last week, turning 17-plus-point deficits into back-to-back victories at LSU and Tennessee, but can they keep it up back in front of a sea of blue inside Rupp Arena?

KSR has everything you need to know about Kentucky’s matchup vs. Texas to begin this two-game homestand in Lexington, Mark Pope‘s group going for a fourth straight victory in the SEC on Wednesday.

Kentucky vs. Texas: How to Watch, Listen

• Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: SEC Network (Matt Schumacker, Richard Hendrix)
• Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Online: iHeart Radio
• Sirius XM: 374

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

Lock in for the 2025 Kentucky Basketball season with KSR Plus! We’re giving you behind-the-scenes intel you won’t find anywhere else. Join the most passionate online community in the BBN during Mark Pope’s second season.

Season Rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 27

• 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
• 12/13: 72-60 W vs. Indiana
• 12/20: 78-66 W vs. No. 22 St. John’s
• 12/23: 99-85 W vs. Bellarmine
• 1/3: 89-74 L at No. 14 Alabama
• 1/7: 73-68 L vs. Missouri
• 1/10: 92-68 W vs. Mississippi State
• 1/14: 75-74 W at LSU
• 1/17: 80-78 W at No. 24 Tennessee

Texas: KenPom 41

• 11/4: 75-60 L vs. Duke
• 11/8: 97-60 W vs. Lafayette
• 11/12: 93-58 W vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
• 11/15: 71-55 W vs. Kansas City
• 11/18: 99-65 W vs. Rider
• 11/24: 87-86 L vs. Arizona State
• 11/25: 119-78 W vs. Chaminade
• 11/26: 102-97 W vs. N.C. State
• 12/3: 88-69 L vs. Virginia
• 12/8: 95-69 W vs. Southern
• 12/12: 71-63 L at UConn
• 12/16: 95-53 W vs. Le Moyne
• 12/22: 94-71 W vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
• 1/3: 101-98 L (OT) vs. Mississippi State
• 1/6: 85-71 L at Tennessee
• 1/10: 92-88 W at Alabama
• 1/14: 80-64 W vs. Vanderbilt
• 1/17: 74-70 L vs. Texas A&M

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 2-1, including a perfect 1-0 mark in Lexington — despite coming in on a one-game losing streak, thanks to the Longhorns’ win in Austin a year ago in their first official matchup as an SEC foe.

Mark Pope fell 82-78 in the head-to-head battle at the Moody Center last February with freshman superstar Tre Johnson going for a game-high 32 points and nine rebounds in the upset. Without Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa or Jaxson Robinson, Travis Perry was forced to start and play 28 minutes. Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 20 points, followed by Amari Williams with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

He beat Texas, however, back in January 2024 during his time at BYU. Jaxson Robinson had a team-high 17 points on 8-11 shooting in that 84-72 victory.

Sean Miller, despite coaching for 21 seasons in college with a 498-203 overall record, has never coached against Kentucky.

Kentucky vs. Texas Odds

The Wildcats have opened as 6.5-point favorites with the over/under set at 151.5, according to our friends at BetMGM. UK’s point total has been set at 79.5 compared to 72.5 for UT.

As for the computers, KenPom gives UK a 71 percent chance to pull off the win with a projected score of 82-76. Bart Torvik isn’t quite as high on the Wildcats’ chance, but is still rolling with an 81-77 win with a 65 percent chance to pull it off. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor is the highest on the good guys, giving the blue and white a 76.4 percent chance to make it four straight SEC wins on the year.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#1 – Denzel Aberdeen
6-5 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.2 APG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – SENIOR
15.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.8 APG

#3 – Kam Williams
6-8 – 205 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
6.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.0 APG

#4 – Andrija Jelavic
6-11 – 225 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
5.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.4 APG

#24 – Malachi Moreno
7-0 – 250 – CENTER – FRESHMAN
8.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.7 APG

Texas Potential Starters

#0 – Jordan Pope
6-1 – 180 – GUARD – SENIOR
13.2 PPG, 2.4 APG, 2.1 RPG

#12 – Tramon Mark
6-5 – 210 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.2 APG

#3 – Dailyn Swain
6-8 – 220 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
15.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 3.3 APG

#5 – Camden Heide
6-7 – 215 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
6.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.8 APG

#8 – Matas Vokietaitis
7-0 – 255 – CENTER – SOPHOMORE
15.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 0.8 BPG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• UK erased a 17-point deficit at Tennessee to mark the third straight 12-plus-point comeback win for the Cats. That hasn’t been done since 2017 with wins vs. Florida (12), Vanderbilt (19) and Texas A&M (15). According to ESPN, Kentucky is the first team to record consecutive road wins when trailing by 15-plus since Florida Atlantic in 2017.
• Otega Oweh has scored in double-figures in all 18 games for Kentucky this season and has now reached double-figures in 51 of his 54 games as a Wildcat. He’s topped 20 points in six of his last eight outings.
• The Wildcats are shooting 38.7 percent from three against SEC foes. That mark leads the conference in league play.
• Denzel Aberdeen has averaged 17.5 points and 2.0 assists in the second half of both comebacks at LSU and Tennessee with one combined turnover in that span. He’s shooting 75.0% from the field, 71.4% from three and 85.7% at the line in those second halves.

Pregame Storylines

WELCOME TO THE SEC, SEAN MILLER!

Texas is just in its second season in the SEC, and now, the Longhorns are led by a head coach in his first season in the SEC. Kentucky hasn’t hosted the burnt orange at Rupp Arena since the 2014-15 season, and now over a decade later, Sean Miller is bringing the program back to Lexington in the league that just means more. He’s been a head coach at Xavier (2004-09), Arizona (2009-21), back to Xavier (2022-25), and now, he’s in year one with an 11-7 record to begin his career in Austin.

Miller has an overall record of 498-203 with five Pac-10/Pac-12 league championships, three Pac-12 Tournament titles, three A-10 regular season championships and one A-10 Tournament title. During his time at Arizona, he made it to three Elite Eights and two Sweet 16s.

KEEPING A ‘POTENT’ OFFENSE IN CHECK

What makes the Longhorns such a tough cover in Miller’s debut season? It starts at the charity striped, ranked No. 1 nationally in free-throw rate (No. 2 in attempts and No. 4 in makes). Elsewhere, they sit at No. 15 in offensive rebound rate, No. 18 in offensive efficiency, No. 23 in rebounding average and No. 26 in scoring offense.

They’re putting up 86.3 points per contest and making it look easy.

“This Texas team, they are potent offensively. My goodness, they just have weapons everywhere,” Mark Pope said. “They’re one of the top teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line. … They’re one of the top teams in the country on the offensive glass. They can hurt you in isolation, they hurt you off handoffs and off screens. They can hurt you in transition, and they do it from all five spots. Got some guys coming off the bench that really have an impact. They can really, really shoot it.”

A COUPLE OF NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW (OR MAY REMEMBER)

6-foot-7 wing Dailyn Swain (15.7 PPG), 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis (15.2 PPG), 6-foot-5 guard Tramon Mark (13.4 PPG) and 6-foot-2 guard Jordan Pope (13.2 PPG) are the team’s best players and all dangerous in their own ways.

Mark, specifically, torched the Wildcats for 26 points in the Longhorns’ home win in Austin last February. Now in his seventh college season, he’s ready to bring the heat to Lexington one final time.

“He’s so good. He’s a big shot maker, physically strong, maybe their best defensive player. He’s a really good player,” Pope said. 

J-LOWE AND JQ REMAIN OUT

Kentucky lost starting point guard Jaland Lowe to a season-ending shoulder injury vs. Mississippi State and has missed both wins at LSU and Tennessee — plus everything to come this point forward. Joining him on the bench, again, is Jayden Quaintance, who is out again with knee swelling after playing just four games for the Wildcats since making his debut vs. St. John’s on December 20. They were the only names listed on the SEC’s Availability Report going into the Cats vs. Longhorns.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, Denzel Aberdeen has stepped up in a big way since Lowe’s injury while Malachi Moreno is doing the same at the five spot.

A FUNKY RESUME FOR THE LONGHORNS

You can take small chunks of Texas’ resume and find things to both love and hate about it. Generally speaking, the Longhorns have seven early losses while dropping three of five in the SEC. They’re also 0-3 in Quad 2 and Quad 3 games, falling to Arizona State, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. On the other hand, they have top-30 NET wins vs. NC State, at Alabama and vs. Vanderbilt with some good losses elsewhere in Duke, Virginia and UConn. You never really know what you’re going to get with this team, which has seen some pretty high highs and some fairly low lows.

Hopefully it’s the latter this time around in Lexington.

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 from Rupp Arena 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 immediately after the game in Lexington, 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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