The Kentucky Wildcats started hot with seven straight wins to open the Mark Pope era, followed by a dud at Clemson. They shot poorly and struggled with physicality, leading to the first loss of the season. Unfortunately for the squad from Lexington, the competition is only getting tougher and the distance from home is even farther. Up next? The No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Battle in Seattle — a top-10 matchup tipping off at 10 p.m. ET inside Climate Pledge Arena.

Can Kentucky get back in the win column against the nation’s No. 2 offense? KSR has everything you need to know about the matchup as we wait for the late tip.

Kentucky vs. Gonzaga: How to Watch, Listen

• Time: 10 p.m. ET
• Television: ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi, Jimmy Dykes)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 190
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Early season rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 11

• 11/4: 103-62 W vs. Wright State
• 11/9: 100-72 W vs. Bucknell
• 11/12: 77-72 W vs. No. 6 Duke
• 11/19: 97-68 W vs. Lipscomb
• 11/22: 108-59 W vs. Jackson State
• 11/26: 87-68 W vs. Western Kentucky
• 11/29: 105-76 W vs. Georgia State
• 12/3: 70-66 L at Clemson

Gonzaga: KenPom 4

• 11/4: 101-63 W vs. Baylor
• 11/10: 88-80 W vs. Arizona State
• 11/15: 113-54 W vs. UMass Lowell
• 11/18: 80-67 W at San Diego State
• 11/20: 84-41 W vs. Long Beach State
• 11/27: 86-78 L (OT) vs. West Virginia
• 11/28: 89-73 W vs. Indiana
• 11/29: 90-65 W vs. Davidson

Series History

This one is a little complicated with some moving parts thanks to Mark Pope’s time in the WCC coaching at BYU. In terms of head-to-head battles between Kentucky and Gonzaga, there are only three — an 80-72 win for the Wildcats in 2002 during the Maui Invitational, followed by losses of 88-72 and 89-85 in this new home-and-home series from 2022-24.

As for Pope specifically, he hasn’t had much luck against the Bulldogs over the years, coming in with a 1-9 record with nine matchups at BYU and a tenth while at Utah Valley. His lone win came in 2019-20 — his first season with the Cougars, winning 91-78 in an upset over the No. 2 team in the country.

Kentucky vs. Gonzaga Odds via Circa Sports

Spread: Gonzaga -6.5
Total: 167

The Wildcats covered the spread in their first five games of the season before falling just short of that mark in back-to-back matchups vs. WKU and Georgia State, then lost outright as slight favorites at Clemson. KenPom is projecting a 86-80 loss for Kentucky, giving Pope’s squad a 29 percent chance to pull off the win outright.

Kentucky Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
12.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.1 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
16.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG

#2 – Jaxson Robinson
6-6 – 192 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
12.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 APG

#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.5 APG

#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
9.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.9 BPG

Gonzaga Projected Starters

#0 – Ryan Nembhard
6-0 – 180 – GUARD – SENIOR
10.6 PPG, 10.8 APG, 2.6 RPG

#99 – Khalif Battle
6-5 – 185 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.6 APG

#11 – Nolan Hickman
6-2 – 190 – GUARD – SENIOR
11.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.5 APG

#1 – Michael Ajayi
6-7 – 228 – GUARD – SENIOR
7.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.0 APG

#13 – Graham Ike
6-9 – 250 – FORWARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR
13.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 0.9 APG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Kentucky is 103-72 all-time in matchups involving two AP Top 10 teams. This will be the second top-10 battle between Kentucky and Gonzaga in the last three years.
• The Wildcats are averaging 92.9 points per game, good for second nationally with four 100-point performances. Their 19.9 assists per game are No. 1 in the SEC and No. 8 nationally
• UK makes 10.6 3-pointers per game, good for No. 1 in the SEC and No. 22 in Division I
• Two players are on the cusp of joining the 1,000-point club with Kerr Kriisa and Koby Brea are three and nine points away, respectively.

Pregame Storylines

POPE’S STRUGGLES AGAINST GONZAGA

The Kentucky coach said he has “PTSD” coaching against Few and Gonzaga again after sitting at just 1-9 in his career against the Bulldogs. His one win came in a court-storming in Provo, the Cougars pulling off the 91-78 upset over the second-ranked Zags. “We’ve had some epic battles, and he’s come out on the winning side of too many of those. Hopefully we’ll start to even that out a little bit,” Pope said. It’ll have to come in a hostile neutral-site environment in Seattle, just a few hours away from Spokane compared to the 2,400-mile journey from Lexington.

SHOOTING MUST GET BACK ON TRACK

The Wildcats are a combined 26.8 percent from three and have not shot better than 27.6 percent in their three most recent matchups, never exceeding eight makes in a single game. Taking on a team averaging 90.4 points per contest on 49/35/82 splits, Kentucky has no choice but to get back on track from deep if it wants to keep up against one of the most dangerous offenses in college basketball with five different players averaging double figures for the Bulldogs.

WILL LAMONT BUTLER PLAY?

A key to competing in Seattle? The availability of Kentucky’s starting point guard. Butler tweaked his ankle in the loss at Clemson and Pope said the injury is “a little bit of an issue.” Will he be able to give it a go against the Bulldogs? He said the team is “super hopeful we’ll have him back,” but was not able to confirm it one way or another. Butler is currently averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 22.5 minutes per game as the team’s do-it-all threat in the backcourt.

A BATTLE OF DEPTH

Kentucky is one of the deepest teams in college basketball, but so is Gonzaga — they’re actually pretty close across the board. Eight different Bulldogs play at least 17 minutes per game with two players averaging at least 30 minutes. Of those eight, five of them score between 10.6 and 13.8 points with another three scoring at least 6.3 points per contest. As for the Wildcats, they have nine players with at least 16 minutes per game and five scoring between 10.0 and 16.0 points per contest.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside Climate Pledge Arena while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

New members can get KSR+ for seven days for just $1 and 50% off the annual price.

Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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