Well, folks, we have reached the last week of the regular season.
The Kentucky Wildcats are currently 8-14 in the season, eighth in the SEC conference ranking, and their only hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament is to run and win the SEC Tournament.
The next is a meeting with Ole Miss Rebels, who before losing to a terrible Vanderbilt team, was one of the hottest teams in the conference. In February, the rebels defeated Missouri twice, once when the Tigers were in the top 25 and by 21 points no less, and beat a team in Tennessee’s top 25.
Before his loss to the Commodores, Ole Miss won five of his last six games, rising through the conference ranking and straight into the NCAA tournament bubble. The rebels have consistently been in Joe Lunardi’s bracket as one of the top 4-8 teams out of the bubble. They are currently on their Next Four Out.
As it stands now, Ole Miss is two places above Kentucky in the conference ranking sixth. 13-10 overall, 8-8 in the league game. Kentucky is currently 7-8 in the SEC game. Kentucky needs to win this game to secure a single bye at the SEC Tournament, while there is still a miraculous scenario in which cats win a double bye if they win.
For Kentucky, the final two games against Ole Miss and South Carolina are really about improving your position at the conference before the SEC tournament starts and building a solid momentum to make a deep tournament.
Prior to its loss to Florida, Kentucky was in its second streak of three consecutive wins of the season and once again it looked like it was just around the corner, but the terrible execution and point guard game proved to be an expensive affair against the Gators in the last Saturday.
Ole Miss’s best player is still Devontae Shuler, who in his final year averages 16 PPG while shooting 40% of the field. Romello White, transferred to the state of Arizona, is also a force for the rebels, averaging 11 points and six boards per game.
Ole Miss comes into play with an average of 69.2 PPG, but the good news for Kentucky is that they may have found a worse team in the three-ball shot than they were. Ole Miss has connected to just 28.5% of his three players this season, while his opponents are hitting an average of 37%.
Both Kentucky and Ole Miss are equally equal in terms of turnover per game, assists per game, rebounds per game and points per game.
So, with all of that, it certainly must qualify as a basketball game.
Get ready for SEC basketball on Tuesday night with information on how to watch.
Game time: 9 pm ET on Tuesday, March 2
Localization: The Pavilion at Ole Miss
Television channel: ESPN
Stream online: WatchESPN and fuboTV (free trial).
Radio: Tom Leach and Mike Pratt will make the UK radio network make 630 AM, 98.1 FM calls in Lexington and the UK Sports Network.
Repeat: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | OM
Box scores from the last game: UK | OM
Statistics to know: UK | OM
Chances: The game started out as a choice. ESPN’s showdown predictor gives Cats only a 37.1% chance of winning, while KenPom gives them a 44% chance of winning at Oxford.
Forecasts: KenPom predicts a 64-63 victory for the rebels.