Kansas Jayhawks vs. Kentucky Wildcats: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/28/2023

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY

Where to watch: ESPN

DraftKings: Check back later

FanDuel: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

No. 9 Kansas: 16-4

Kentucky: 14-6

Kansas - Kentucky preview, prediction and analysis

Kansas: lost three straight; lost 75-69 at Baylor on Jan. 23

Kentucky: won four straight; won 69-53 at Vanderbilt on Jan. 24

The Kansas Jayhawks, in the midst of a rare three-game losing streak, will try to end it on Saturday in one of their tougher games of the season against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena.

What’s transpired with Kansas in recent memory is quite wild. The No. 9 Jayhawks have lost three straight, all to ranked opponents, against Kansas State, TCU and as of four days ago, Baylor. The loss to the Bears in Waco was a 75-69 setback that shouldn’t have necessarily happened unless the defense falters. Which is weird in a Bill Self-coached team.

Gradey Dick led the way with 24 points on 8 of 13 shooting, and Jalen Wilson added 23 points and five rebounds for Kansas, who shot 46.2 percent from the floor but hit a wall with 5 of 19 from the 3-point line. Kevin McCullar Jr. had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“There is time to be reactive in a negative way if your team’s not doing well. This is not one of our times,” Self said. “We have gotten beat, and granted we got beat (by) a team that was projected to win the league tonight, that’s really good. And they went through the same crap we’re going through right now. ... Our league is that good. It's going to be a grind.”

We’ve talked before about the logjam in the Big 12, but the last week has shown we’re starting to evade through the weeds with that. Kansas has dropped to the middle of the pack, going from 5-0 to 5-3 in conference play quickly. They’re only a game back of first place, now occupied by Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas. The Jayhawks have so much ground to make up for and considering this week won’t entail a conference game, it’s paramount they get back on track.

The Jayhawks have gone 0-5 in their last five against the spread, favored in every game but the Baylor one (+2) with the under cashing three times. It’s completely uncharacteristic by Kansas at the moment that this is happening.

It’s also been an uncharacteristic season for the Wildcats, currently unranked in a weird year for John Calipari. But Kentucky has rebounded with a four-game winning streak with the latest victory a 69-53 win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Kentucky shot 56 percent from the floor and got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe, while Antonio Reeves added 16 points.

The four straight conference victories have found Kentucky back near the top of the SEC standings, but there’s still a long way to go. The Alabama Crimson Tide are the class of the conference right now at No. 2 in the country, with No. 4 Tennessee and No. 15 Auburn also occupying the top. If not for Kansas’ losses, this would have a little more feel to it of a game, but right now, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

Kentucky is 11-1 at home and has also covered the last four after not doing so the previous three. I don’t think Kansas is rattled, but I also don’t think they’re prepared to go to a hostile environment and win a game like this. Kentucky doesn’t lose at the Rupp very often. They’ll show up for this one. Kentucky 81, Kansas 77

Check back later for trends.

PG: Dajuan Harris Jr.

SG: Kevin McCullar

SF: Gradey Dick

PF: K.J. Adams

C: Jalen Wilson

PG: C.J. Fredrick

SG: Cason Wallace

SF: Chris Livingston

PF: Jacob Toppin

C: Oscar Tshiebwe

Injury report

Kansas: Cam Martin (shoulder, out), Wilder Evers (foot, out)

Kentucky: Daimion Collins (foot, questionable)

Points: Jalen Wilson -- 21.4

Rebounds: Jalen Wilson -- 8.6

Assists: Dajuan Harris Jr. -- 6.5

Points: Oscar Tshiebwe -- 16.6

Rebounds: Oscar Tshiebwe -- 13.9

Assists: Sahvir Wheeler -- 5.8