Kentucky vs. No. 25 Vanderbilt: Preview, Odds & How to Watch – On3

Round two, FIGHT! Kentucky took one on the chin in its first head-to-head battle at Vanderbilt, but the Wildcats will get their revenge opportunity on Saturday when the Commodores come to town. A lot is on the line this time around, as a win for Mark Pope‘s squad could all but lock up a top-eight seed in the SEC Tournament with a single bye and leaving the door open for a double. Lose and a Wednesday start remains on the table.
How can UK get the job done to get to 10 wins in league play with two regular season games to go? KSR has everything you need to know about the matchup in Lexington.
You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.
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Kentucky: KenPom 30
Vanderbilt: KenPom 13
Kentucky leads the all-time series 158–51 against Vanderbilt, including an 87-16 mark in Lexington.
The most recent meeting between these programs came in January when the Wildcats got pummeled in Nashville with a final score of 80-55. Otega Oweh led the way with 20 points on 7-19 shooting, followed by Denzel Aberdeen with 15. No one else scored in double figures. As for the Commodores, Tyler Nickel and Tyler Tanner went for team-highs of 19 points, followed by Devin McGlockton and Chandler Bing with 11 apiece.
Mark Pope is 1-3 against the Commodores, first falling 69-67 in the 2021 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu during his time at BYU before splitting the series last season and falling in round one this year. Mark Byington is 2-1 in his 13-year career against UK.
The Wildcats have opened as 1.5-point favorites in Lexington with the over-under set at 156.5 points.
As for the computers, KenPom is projecting a 78-77 loss while giving Mark Pope’s team a 47 percent chance to win. Bart Torvik agrees, picking a 79-77 win for the ‘Dores and giving the Cats a 42 percent shot to protect their home floor at Rupp Arena. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor disagrees with both, giving the blue and white a 56.4 percent chance to pull off the outright victory.
#1 – Denzel Aberdeen
6-5 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 3.3 APG
#5 – Collin Chandler
6-5 – 205 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
10.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.2 APG
#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – SENIOR
17.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.6 APG
#4 – Andrija Jelavic
6-11 – 225 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
5.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.6 APG
#24 – Malachi Moreno
7-0 – 250 – CENTER – FRESHMAN
8.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.7 APG
#3 – Tyler Tanner
6‑0 – 175 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
18.5 PPG, 5.2 APG, 3.5 RPG, 2.4 SPG
#2 – Duke Miles
6‑2 – 180 – GUARD – SENIOR
16.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.1 RPG 
#10 – Tyler Nickel
6‑7 – 220 – FORWARD – SENIOR
14.1 PPG, 1.3 APG, 3.0 RPG 
#8 – AK Okereke
6‑7 – 244 – FORWARD – SENIOR
9.4 PPG, 1.9 APG, 3.5 RPG
#99 – Devin McGlockton
6‑7 – 230 – FORWARD – SENIOR
10.5 PPG, 1.4 APG, 6.9 RPG 
"Ongoing conversation" but still undecided
What's your section's color, baby?
Will UK avenge early loss to Vandy?
An update from Will Stein.
by a small number over Vandy.
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(via Kentucky’s game notes)
Fun stats from UK’s game notes:
KENTUCKY LOOKS FOR REVENGE
Remember SNOWMAGEDDON? Yeah, that was a big dud, but that was all of the talk when the Cats and ‘Dores last faced off. The snow was underwhelming in the Bluegrass, but Nashville got hit with an ice storm and Kentucky’s play followed accordingly, shooting an ice-cold 32 percent from the field and 25 percent from three with just two players (Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen) scoring more than a single field goal in the 80-55 blowout loss. It was one of the worst all-around performances of the year for the blue and white.
Since then, both teams are 4-3 with questionable losses and solid wins. The analytics favor Vanderbilt (No. 12 offense, No. 21 defense vs. No. 49 offense, No. 33 defense), but the revenge factor is on Kentucky’s side after being humiliated in round one.
Can the Wildcats take advantage of the emotional edge?
A THREE-HEADED MONSTER FOR THE ‘DORES
The Commodores started the season as one of the hottest teams in college basketball with 16 straight wins, ranked as high as No. 10 in the country, and are still a top-25 competitor coming down the home stretch of the regular season. Their three-headed monster of Tyler Tanner, Darius Miles and Tyler Nickel is a big reason for that, combining for 48.9 points, 10.8 assists and 9.6 rebounds per contest with Tanner and Miles earning 5.1 steals per game together as one of the toughest backcourts in the conference.
Tanner has 27 double-digit performances and 11 20-point efforts while Miles has 18 and seven in those categories, respectively, plus another 22 and five from Nickel. They’re as tough a three-headed monster as you’ll find in the SEC.
DUKE MILES IS BACK FOR VANDY
Speaking of Miles, he was a surprise scratch just before the Wildcats’ matchup in Nashville, then proceeded to miss an entire month of game action. Since then, though, the sixth-year guard that is currently averaging 16.3 points, 4.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 steals per contest has played twice, going for 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes vs. Tennessee last Saturday, then another 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 21 minutes vs. Georgia.
“Vandy is a terrific team. … Duke Miles is back. He was really good last night,” Pope said on Thursday.
The Commodores had gone big in his absence, starting Jalen Washington at center (6-10, 240) and sliding AK Okereke (6-7, 244) up to the wing next to Tyler Nickel (6-7, 220) with Devin McGlockton (6-7, 230) at the four. Only Tyler Tanner (6-0, 173) was under that 6-7 line before Miles’ (6-2, 180) return. It’ll be interesting to see whether Vandy stays big or returns to its pre-Miles injury lineup.
Either way, he’s a game-changing threat the Wildcats must now account for.
FIGHTING IN THE SEC STANDINGS
As things stand today, Kentucky and Vanderbilt are tied for fifth place in the league with just three games to go before SEC Tournament action. Thanks to tiebreakers, though, the Wildcats are technically sitting in eighth — right on the single-bye line — while the Commodores are in fifth, flirting with a double-bye. A win could flip things in UK’s direction to not only likely lock up a Thursday start, at minimum, plus keep hopes alive for that desired Friday start.
The Cats would have to win out and get some luck with Tennessee and Missouri losses (or a collapse from Arkansas, losing two of three), but they’d at least be in the conversation by beating the ‘Dores.
Lose, and a Wednesday start can’t be ruled out, unfortunately.
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).
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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"Ongoing conversation" but still undecided
What's your section's color, baby?
Will UK avenge early loss to Vandy?
An update from Will Stein.
by a small number over Vandy.
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