Kentucky and Oklahoma meet Wednesday night at Rupp Arena, and while these teams have played some thrillers in years’ past, this season’s edition figures to be predictable.
ESPN’s Analytics released their projection for the Wildcats’ 8 p.m. clash with the Sooners, and the Matchup Predictor gives Mark Pope & Co. an 80.8% chance to come out on top.
That number is backed up by the perceived notion that these are two squads on very opposite trajectories.
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Kentucky has done well to rally from a rocky non-conference showing and ensuing 0-2 start to SEC play, as the ‘Cats have won six of their last seven and picked up a handful of Quad 1 wins in the process. A somewhat stable rotation and improved shooting has enabled UK to average 77.8 points per game over that span.
Meanwhile, January treated Porter Moser’s team rather poorly. After beginning conference action with a 16-point home win over Ole Miss, Oklahoma has dropped its past eight contests. And the low point may have occurred last Saturday, as the Sooners blew a 14-point lead at home to arch rivals Texas.
With a four-game stretch of Tennessee (home), Florida (road), Georgia (home) and Auburn (road) looming, Kentucky can ill-afford to drop a game against reeling Oklahoma, while the visitors will just be desperate to manufacture any form of positive momentum.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
