Miss. State will give No. 6 Kentucky another challenge

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Trying to recover from a 13-point beating at Georgia on Tuesday, No. 6 Kentucky is on the road again at No. 14 Mississippi State. Game time Saturday 7:30 pm CT.

UK is searching for some answers in the aftermath of its first road loss in its first game on the road in the league. Rebounding has been a challenge, as has some issues with toughness for the Wildcats.

UK is 12-3 overall, 1-1 in the SEC. The strength of that win total was built with early season matchups at Rupp Arena.

The Wildcats are 10-0 at home this season and 2-1 in neutral-site games. They are still in search of their first victory in a true road game under head coach Mark Pope.

Mississippi State will be a tough challenge for the Cats. MSU has a 14-1 record on the season and have opened SEC play with wins over South Carolina and at Vanderbilt. Josh Hubbard is a strong point guard who scores 17.1 points a game.

“This team has an elite, elite level scorer playmaker in Hubbard,” Pope said of Hubbard. “He’s really dangerous.”

KeShawn Murphy is a 6-10 forward who is scoring 9.9 points and pulling down 7.7 rebounds a game. Cameron Matthews is a 6-7 forward who is averaging eight points, 6.9 rebounds a game, while leading Miss. State with 4.1 assists a game and 2.5 steals a game from his forward spot.

Saturday’s game will be between two of the nation’s best scoring teams. Kentucky is third in the nation, averaging 88.8 points per game, while Mississippi State is 27th, averaging 83.5 points per outing.

The metrics make a case for a second straight UK loss. Mississippi State is No. 12 in the NET, while Kentucky is No. 18. Miss. State is 4-0 in Quad 1 games. UK is now 3-3 in Quad 1 matchups.

Miss. State is No. 17 in KenPom, Kentucky is No. 22.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/miss-state-no-6-kentucky-101700434.html

Author : Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Publish date : 2025-01-11 10:17:00

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