How Kentucky matches up vs. No. 24 Tennessee — with a game prediction
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Matchups swing by position; prediction gives Tennessee a narrow edge.
- Kentucky offense leans on Oweh and Moreno; Tennessee counters via Ament and Gillespie.
- History, home-court trends and recent form shape prediction: Tennessee 71, Kentucky 68.
How the Kentucky Wildcats (11-6, 2-2 SEC) and the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers (12-5, 2-2 SEC) match up at each position for Saturday’s SEC men’s basketball contest — with a game prediction:
Small forward
• Kentucky’s Kam Williams (7.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 35.4% treys) got the start in his home state in UK’s 75-74 come-from-behind win at LSU Wednesday night. The 6-foot-8, 205-pound product of Lafayette, Louisiana, did not shoot well — 2 of 6 overall, 1 of 3 on 3-pointers — but had a steal and dunk with 3:55 left that put UK ahead, 69-68, for the first time in the game. Williams has made multiple 3-point shots in four of UK’s past six games.
• Tennessee freshman Nate Ament (15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 40.6% FGs, 27.1% treys) was the No. 4-rated high school prospect in the Class of 2025 in the 24/7 Sports Composite Rankings. The 6-10., 207-pound product of Manassas, Virginia, has his game on an upward arc. Ament has scored in double figures in four of UT’s past five games. In the Volunteers’ 87-82 double-overtime victory over Texas A&M on Tuesday night, Ament had 23 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Advantage: Tennessee
Power forward
• Kentucky sophomore Andrija Jelavic (5.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg) made his first college start at LSU and performed well. The 6-11, 225-pound product of Zagreb, Croatia, had 11 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal vs. the Tigers. Since going 0 of 6 on field-goal tries in UK’s 94-59 loss to Gonzaga on Dec. 5, Jelavic has subsequently made 10 of 18 shots.
• Tennessee freshman DeWayne Brown II (5.7 points, 4 rebounds) had two points and two rebounds in the win over Texas A&M. However, in the prior two games, the 6-8, 251-pound freshman had back-to-back performances with 10 points in each. A product of Hoover, Alabama, Brown is shooting better from the field (66% FGs) than the foul line (62.5% FTs).
Advantage: Even
Center
• Kentucky freshman Malachi Moreno (9.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 64.5% FGs) is riding the wave of back-to-back memorable performances. The 7-foot, 250-pound product of Great Crossing High School in Georgetown had 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in UK’s 92-68 rout of Mississippi State last Saturday. Moreno then provided the winning margin at LSU, catching a three-quarters-court length pass from Collin Chandler and calmly swishing a 15-foot jumper just ahead of the final buzzer. In addition to the game-winning bucket, Moreno totaled 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals vs. LSU.
• Tennessee’s Felix Okpara (7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 51.7% FGs, 44.4% treys) had a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds) in the win over Texas A&M. In UT’s three meetings with UK last season — two regular-season victories for the Wildcats and the NCAA Tournament round of 16 win by the Volunteers — Okpara shot 8 of 14 and averaged 6.7 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Advantage: Even
Shooting guard
• Kentucky senior Otega Oweh (15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists) has turned his game way up since SEC play began. In UK’s four league contests, Oweh is averaging 21.3 points, five rebounds, 3.3 assists and three steals while making 52.6% of his shots. In the three games vs. UT last season, Oweh averaged 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds but made only 38.2% of his shots (13 of 34).
• Tennessee sophomore Bishop Boswell (6.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 36 assists vs. 21 turnovers) had a stellar showing in the win over Texas A&M. Boswell had 13 points, 11 rebounds and three assists vs. the Aggies. It was only Boswell’s second double-digit scoring performance this season.
Advantage: Kentucky
Point guard
• It was a tale of two halves for Kentucky senior Denzel Aberdeen in the win at LSU. After missing both of his field-goal tires and going scoreless in half one, Aberdeen hit 5 of 6 shots and scored 17 points in the second half. Aberdeen, a 6-5, 195-pound senior, has averaged 16.5 points and four assists over UK’s past two games.
• Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie (18.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists) is a product of Greeneville, Tennessee, who transferred home from Maryland. The 6-1, 188-pound senior torched Texas on January 6, hitting 12 of 18 shots, 5 of 8 3-pointers, en route to 34 points. However, in UT’s other three SEC contests so far, Gillespie has made only 13 of 44 shots.
Advantage: Tennessee
Bench
• Kentucky sophomore guard Collin Chandler (8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists) broke out of a slump at LSU. The 6-5, 205-pound product of Farmington, Utah, had nine points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. It was Chandler’s long pass that set up Malachi Moreno’s game-winning jumper. ... Power forward Mouhamed Dioubate (9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 57.9% FGs) was shuffled out of the starting lineup at LSU as UK appeared to search for more outside shooting capacity than Dioubate can provide. ... Junior big man Brandon Garrison (4.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists) missed all three of his shots at LSU but had three rebounds and two assists. The 6-10, 245-pound Garrison averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds vs. the Vols last season. ... Freshman guard Jasper Johnson (6.5 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists) missed all four of his shot attempts at LSU and finished scoreless in eight minutes.
• Tennessee power forward Jaylen Carey (9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 52.9% FGs) just missed a double-double vs. Texas A&M, finishing with 10 points and nine boards. The 6-8, 267-pound Carey, who began his college career at Vanderbilt and came to UT from James Madison, has scored in double figures in six of the past seven games. ... Sophomore J.P. Estrella (9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 65.2% FGs) has gone scoreless in UT’s past two games. ... Freshman guard Troy Henderson (2.7 points, 23 assists vs. five turnovers) made a major contribution to the win over Texas A&M, scoring eight points and pilfering two steals. The 6-1, 186-pound product of Richmond, Virginia, has gone scoreless seven times this season. ... Senior guard Amaree Abram (4.3 points, 1.8 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer vs. Texas A&M but has only scored in two of UT’s four SEC games to date. The 6-3, 200-pound product of Port Arthur, Texas, averaged 12.3 points last season for Louisiana Tech.
Advantage: Kentucky
Trends and history
• Kentucky leads the all-time series with Tennessee 163-79.
• UK head man Mark Pope is 2-1 vs. Tennessee.
• UT coach Rick Barnes is 13-14 overall vs. UK, and is 12-12 vs. the Wildcats as Volunteers head man.
• Tennessee is 10-0 this season in home games. Kentucky is 1-2 in away games.
• UK has beaten UT in four of the past five meetings between the teams in Knoxville.
Advantage: Even
Prediction
Tennessee 71, Kentucky 68
