First Scouting Report: UK out to snap its Senior Night losing streak vs. Mississippi
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Game day: No. 18 Arkansas 75, No. 6 Kentucky 73
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 6 Kentucky (23-6, 12-4 SEC) will face Mississippi (13-15, 4-11 SEC entering Saturday’s game with Texas A&M) on Tuesday at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center (capacity 20,545) in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by ESPN.
Coach Kermit Davis Jr.’s Rebels played Texas A&M on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Mississippi 108-14. Under John Calipari, the Wildcats are 12-2 vs. the Rebels.
Most recent meeting
Devontae Schuler scored 17 points and dished out seven assists and K.J. Buffen had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Mississippi snapped an 11-game losing streak vs. Kentucky with a 70-62 victory over the Wildcats on March 2, 2021, at the Pavilion at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
Power rankings
Through Friday’s games, the NCAA’s NET Rankings had Kentucky No. 3 and Mississippi No. 102.
The Kenpom Rankings rated UK No. 3 and Mississippi No. 98.
Kentucky stood No. 4 in the Sagarin Ratings with Mississippi No. 86.
Know your foe
1. Mississippi has not been a successful road team in 2021-22. The Rebels are 2-6 in true away games.
However, both road victories came in February, an upset of then-No. 25 LSU on Feb. 1 in Baton Rouge and an 85-68 victory at struggling Georgia on Feb. 19.
The Rebels have also come close to some other notable victories on opponents’ home courts. Ole Miss lost at then-No. 18 Tennessee 66-60 in overtime on Jan. 5 and fell 62-57 in OT at Florida on Feb. 5.
2. Rebels head man Kermit Davis Jr. is 1-2 vs. Kentucky.
Davis Jr. is a second-generation Southeastern Conference men’s head basketball coach. His father, Kermit Davis Sr., went 1-13 vs. UK as Mississippi State coach from 1970-1977.
3. Kentucky will be seeking to snap a two-game losing streak in senior-celebration games.
Two years ago, Tennessee put a damper on Nate Sestina’s final game in Rupp Arena by rallying from 11 points down at halftime to beat UK 81-73.
Last season, Kentucky celebrated Senior Day in what turned out to be its next-to-last regular-season home game. Florida took an edge off the festivities for Olivier Sarr and Davion Mintz by beating the Wildcats 71-67.
Mintz, still on the UK roster in 2021-22 as a super-senior, will get another crack Tuesday night at playing in a happy Rupp Arena senior salute.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 4:29 PM.
