Kentucky Wildcats vs. Ole Miss Rebels: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/31/2023

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, MS

Where to watch: ESPN

DraftKings: Kentucky -7; UK -300, MISS +250

FanDuel: Kentucky -7.5; UK -310, MISS +245

BetMGM: Kentucky -7.5

Caesars: Kentucky -7; UK -323, MISS +250

Kentucky: 14-7 (5-3 SEC)

Ole Miss: 9-12 (1-7 SEC)

Kentucky: lost 77-68 vs. No. 7 Kansas

Ole Miss: lost 82-60 at Oklahoma State

The Kentucky Wildcats will try to bounce back after a tough loss over the weekend when they visit Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss on Tuesday. And if you have never tried to look at that name of that arena before and realize that that might be the dumbest name for an arena you've ever seen, then welcome to the weird stuff.

 

Kentucky is coming off a 77-68 loss to the #7 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. The loss ended the four-game winning streak of Kentucky in a stint where it seemed like the Wildcats were starting to get things going after a rough start to the season. But then they ran into the Kansas team that was fairly angry after three straight losses and was in need of a bounce back effort.

 

Oscar Tshiebwe Had 18 points and nine rebounds, whiel Jacob Toppin had 14 points and four rebounds. Cason Wallace Also chipped in with 14 points for Kentucky as it shot 49% from the field. The biggest difference here was Kentucky shot just two of 13 from 3 point range with Wallace making both of them.

 

“It was a hard-fought game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “They deserved to win the game. They hit three 3s, and you have to do that to win games like that.”

 

This has not been the season that Kentucky has hoped for, especially with the way that there were national championship aspirations, as there is every year. But I do believe with this season for Kentucky that we have seen a change in the guard of the top teams in the country, and while Kentucky will remain competitive and challenge for an eventual spot in the NCAA tournament, it doesn't look dominant for them going forward.

 

Ole Miss is coming into this game losers of three in a row following that 82-60 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday in which the rebels are clearly falling behind the pecking order in the SEC. It was an abysmal offensive performance for the rebels, who shot just 35.9% from the floor and only got to the free throw line 11 times. For context, Oklahoma State guard Avery Anderson, who finished with seventeen points in this game, went to the free throw line 11 times and made all eleven. The Rebels had no chance.

 

If you're looking at this game from a books perspective, Kentucky was favored by three against Kansas and failed to cover for the first time in five games when they were twenty point favorites against South Carolina on January 10th. Ole Miss has now failed to cover in seven of its last eight with the only cover being 5.5 point favorites against South Carolina on January 17th. In short, make sure you are playing South Carolina if you have a chance.

 

Kentucky is just the better team right now and they should be able to at least handle the teams in the SEC that are nowhere near their level. Even though they are not playing like the Kentucky teams that we know they can be, they should still be able to handle them with relative ease. Kentucky 81, Ole Miss 60

Kentucky is 2-8 ATS after winning 2 of their last 3 this season.

Kentucky is 4-8 ATS after playing a home game this season.

Ole Miss is 3-10 ATS after playing a second game in a week this season.

PG: C.J. Fredrick

SG: Cason Wallace

SF: Chris Livingston

PF: Jacob Toppin

C: Oscar Tshiebwe

PG: Amaree Abram

SG: Matthew Murrell

SF: James White

PF: Jayveous McKinnis

C: Jaemyyn Brakefield

Points: Oscar Tshiebwe -- 16.6

Rebounds: Oscar Tshiebwe -- 13.9

Assists: Sahvir Wheeler -- 5.8

Points: Matthew Murrell -- 14.2

Rebounds: Myles Burns -- 6.2

Assists: Matthew Murrell -- 2.4