LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball has a possibility tonight to perform a feat it is pulled off simply as soon as up to now decade: sweep the regular-season sequence towards bitter border rival Tennessee.
The Wildcats went on the street final month and topped the Volunteers with a short-handed squad, earning a 78-73 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 28. The Vols have not misplaced since, posting a 3-0 file of their previous three outings, with wins over Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The 2022-23 marketing campaign is UK’s lone sweep of the home-and-home sequence with UT for the reason that finish of the 2014-15 season. The Wildcats upset a top-five Volunteers squad, 63-56, on Jan. 14, 2023, in Knoxville, Tennessee. A month later, Kentucky took a 12-point win (66-54) in Lexington.
Coming into tonight, UK owns a commanding edge in the all-time series with Tennessee, up 162-78.
First-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope is 1-0 towards Tennessee, whereas Volunteers head man Rick Barnes is .500 (11-11) towards the Wildcats since his first season in 2015-16.
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Tonight’s matchup at Rupp Arena shall be one other tussle between ranked squads: UK is No. 18 within the newest USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 15 within the AP Top 25; UT is No. 4 within the coaches rankings and No. 5 within the AP ballot.
Here is what it’s good to know to observe in the present day’s sport from dwelling:
UK and Tennessee are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. in the present day at Rupp Enviornment.
Betting odds: Kentucky is a 2-point dwelling underdog (-112) on DraftKings, which set the over/underneath at 149 ½ factors (-112). The cash line odds are Kentucky +105, Tennessee -125.
The competition between the Wildcats and Volunteers will air on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Molly McGrath (sideline) may have the decision.
Authenticated subscribers can entry ESPN through TV-connected units or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
You can also stream ESPN on Fubo, which gives a free trial.
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) may have the UK radio community name on 840 AM in Louisville and each 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.
You may also hear on-line through UKAthletics.com.
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Attain Kentucky males’s basketball and soccer reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and observe him on X at @RyanABlack.
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