Jerry Stackhouse and Vanderbilt have plenty of confidence entering Friday’s matchup with Kentucky since the Commodores delivered a 68-66 victory at Rupp Arena on March 1. Now that Vandy dispatched of LSU on Thursday, the latest meeting is set.

The Cats and Commodores will meet at 9 p.m. ET on the SEC Network in Nashville.

Stackhouse said after Thursday’s game that both teams will be prepared after they’ve already played each other plenty over the years.

“It’s going to be a battle of competitors,” Stackhouse said. “Guys got to come out and perform. There’s not going to be any tricks where we’re going to come out with some miracle game plan that we’re going to beat them with, or they’re going to beat us with.”

Stackhouse admitted that Oscar Tshiebwe will be a “load for us,” but Vandy knows what it’s dealing with.

“We just got to come out and battle and compete, and we’ll feel good about that if we come out and do those things,” Stackhouse said.

Stackhouse also opened up about his relationship with John Calipari, and how his perception has changed after he watched a “30 for 30” on the Kentucky coach.

“You hear noise all the time about people, but until you kind of dig deep and kind of pull the layers back a little bit. That was fun to see.” he said. “I kind of felt like I was in his shoes a little bit when he was playing Chaney and those guys, trying to beat them. You know what I’m saying?”

With key players missing from both sides, Stackhouse was asked about preparing for the uncertainty of lineup combinations.

“They got a talented team. Throughout their roster, talent has never been an issue,” Stackhouse said. “I think there are other guys that stepped up the very next game. They went out and I think they beat Arkansas. Reeves had a big game. We were able to contain Reeves a little bit in our game. We know what he’s capable of. We’re going to get a lot of attention, as well.

Again, we know — Wallace, whoever, we don’t worry about that who is. We know we have to compete, play well, pay attention to our game plan, execute our assignments on both ends of the floor to give ourselves the best chance to win. If we do that, we feel like we can beat anybody.”