Kentucky Looks to Extend Mastery of Vandy
Vanderbilt has been close to ending its losing ways against Kentucky. Is this the game when the Commodores finally seal the deal?
Kentucky is just 1-3 on the road while seven of Vanderbilt’s 10 wins have come at home so that is a promising sign for the Commodores. However, Kentucky does seem to have figured some things out after some rough outings earlier in the season.
The Wildcats are one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country and the presence of Oscar Tshiebwe has something to do with that.
Forward Damion Collins has missed the last three games with a foot injury for Kentucky and he is questionable for the game.
Reserves Lee Dort (foot) and Miles Keeffe (illness) are out for Vanderbilt.
Kentucky is receiving votes in both the Associated Press Top 25 poll and coaches’ poll. However, this is the fourth week in a row that the Wildcats aren’t in The top 25 in the AP rankings and the third straight week that they are relegated to “others receiving votes” in the voting by the coaches.
According to the college basketball odds, Kentucky (+4000) is tied for 18th in the odds to win the national title. The Wildcats (+3300) are tied for fourth in the odds to win the SEC championship.
Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports and college basketball lines for Kentucky vs Vanderbilt. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.
Reeves Starting to Feel It
Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves got off to an impressive start in his first season at Kentucky with 22 points in his Wildcats’ debut and eight double-digit scoring efforts in his first nine games.
He hit a bit of a rough patch with 31 points over the five-game span as he was 10 of 35 from the field.
Reeves seems to be back trending in the right direction. He accounted for all 23 of Kentucky’s bench points in Saturday’s win over Texas A&M. He is averaging 17 points with 13 3-pointers over the last five games. In Kentucky’s current three-game winning streak, he is 12 of 12 from the foul line so he isn’t limiting himself to just scoring from the perimeter.
He is providing some offensive support for Tshiebwe, who had 37 points and 24 rebounds in a recent game against Georgia.
SEC Player of the Week 💪@Oscartshiebwe34 – 22 PPG, 20.5 RPG pic.twitter.com/ZsjGBUNE2H
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 23, 2023
Kentucky has covered against the Las Vegas odds in just three of its last 13 games and is 6-13-1 against the spread in the last 20 matchups with Vanderbilt.
Plenty in Reserve
Vanderbilt is certainly spreading wealth when it comes to offensive production.
Over the last three games, the Commodores’ bench players are averaging 37.3 points. In an upset of then nationally ranked Arkansas, Jordan Wright had 17 points in 23 minutes and Liam Robbins added 14 points in 19 minutes.
The Commodores were +34 in bench points in that win and +21 as they gave Alabama a bit of a fight. The reserves outscored the starters 41-25 in the game.
The return of freshman Paul Lewis to the lineup has helped as he played 13 minutes in the last contest after missing four of the previous five games.
Vanderbilt covered against the college basketball betting lines in four of its last five games.
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Game Injuries
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Head-to-Head
Kentucky has won 13 games in a row against Vanderbilt. However, four of the last five meetings have been decided by seven points or less, with four of those last five matchups finishing over the total.
Kentucky has only covered in three of the last 10 matchups with Vanderbilt.
The last win by the Commodores in the series came in 2016 as a two-point underdog at home. The Wildcats have been favored in each of the last 27 games against Vanderbilt.
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Game Information
- Game: Kentucky (13-6, 4-3 SEC) vs Vanderbilt (10-9, 3-3)
- Location: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
- Day/Time: Tuesday, Jan. 24th, 9:00 p.m. ET
- Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Live Stream: TBS.com
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Betting Lines
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Picks & Prediction
Even though Vanderbilt has been playing pretty well and has been getting close to knocking off Kentucky, it is hard to go against the Wildcats even if this is only the Wildcats’ fifth true road game of the season.
Tshiebwe had 30 points and 13 rebounds in the first meeting against Vanderbilt last season. The Commodores made things a little more challenging in the last two meetings, including one in the SEC tournament, as Tshiebwe had a total of 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Vanderbilt is +9 in made 3-pointers in the last three meetings with Kentucky and the Commodores will need to be connecting from the perimeter in this matchup.
The total has gone over in six of Vanderbilt’s last seven games and in seven of the last nine games played by Kentucky, so keep that in mind when looking at the total of 144½.
Kentucky is 12-3 when listed by the sportsbook as the favorite while Vanderbilt is 3-7 as an underdog.
Kentucky has covered in just one of its first four road games and Vanderbilt is 3-7 against the spread at home so that will change for one of these squads.
Kentucky is listed at -250 in our Las Vegas college basketball lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Wildcats, you have a chance to win $40. Vanderbilt is +205, offering a chance to win $205 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives Kentucky a 71.43% chance to win, with Vanderbilt at 32.79%.
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Trends
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Edge
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Results
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Game Summary
