College basketball freshmen who are making a case to be lottery picks
Here are 3 freshmen who are playing their way into becoming lottery picks for the 2025 NBA Draft.
LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball was without two starters the last time it faced Tennessee. That didn’t end up hampering the Wildcats, as they left Thompson-Boling Arena with a 78-73 win on Jan. 28.
Both of UK’s injured starters, point guard Lamont Butler and forward Andrew Carr, likely should be available tonight, when Tennessee arrives at Rupp Arena for a regular-season rematch. Butler didn’t play in the previous contest, while Carr came off the bench and contributed two minutes without tallying a stat.
But now another member of the Wildcats’ starting five might be sidelined: guard Jaxson Robinson. During coach Mark Pope‘s weekly radio show Monday night, he said Robinson, who injured his wrist during a practice collision last week, isn’t expected to take the floor against the Vols.
“But we’ll kind of see how things pan out tomorrow (come) game time,” Pope said.
Tennessee hasn’t lost since that Jan. 28 setback, felling Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma in its past three outings.
The Vols haven’t changed their makeup, either: They still boast the best unit in Division I in field-goal percentage defense (36.2) and 3-point percentage defense (26.6) and are No. 1 in the SEC in scoring defense (59.3 points per game).
Here’s what to know about Kentucky’s SEC matchup against Tennessee today in Lexington:
The contest between the Wildcats and Volunteers will air on ESPN. You can stream ESPN on Fubo, which offers a free trial.
Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
UK and Tennessee are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. today.
Record: 16-7 (5-5 SEC)
Tennessee 71, Kentucky 68: It’s hard to imagine the Vols shooting much worse from long range against the Wildcats than they did last month. In that five-point home defeat, Tennessee missed 18 of its 24 attempts behind the 3-point line. But the Volunteers have started to hit their stride in that area the past two games, combining to make 19 of their 36 tries — a success rate of 52.8% — in the wins over Missouri and Oklahoma, respectively. The Wildcats potentially missing Robinson, their most consistent scorer outside of fellow guard Otega Oweh, is worrisome for the hosts. Then toss in the revenge factor. And the fact it’s been hard for either side of this bitter border rivalry to capture both halves of the home-and-away regular-season series in recent years (there have been just two sweeps in the past decade, one for each school). UT will sink just enough shots today to earn another regular-season split with UK.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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