Welcome to life on the bubble. For a season that began with incredibly high expectations for the Kentucky Wildcats, it is shocking to see this Kentucky team 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.
Some won’t like
reading this, but there is still a lot of season left. There are still plenty of opportunities to get back firmly in the NCAA Tournament field and look like a team that can go on a run.
Getting the season back on track starts Saturday night against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 2-0 in the SEC and 10-5 overall, so they won’t be a pushover.
Kentucky beat Mississippi State 95-91 in Starkville last season, on a night where the Wildcats were in top form offensively.
Let’s look at players to watch, keys to the game, and score prediction for Saturday night.
Players to Watch on Mississippi State
1. No. 12: Josh Hubbard — 6-0, 190 lbs. Jr. Guard; Madison, Miss.
Stats: 23 pts/gm., 2.3 rebs, 56 ast.-32 TO 42.7 FG%, 35.2 3-PT FG%, 80.9 FT%, 32.4 mpg
Hubbard is the leading scorer in the SEC. Like Otega Oweh, he entered the NBA Draft process while retaining his eligibility for this season.
Ten times this season, Hubbard has scored 20+ points. In his last two games, Hubbard has 38 and 30 points. Those are the Bulldogs’ first two SEC games, both wins. Hubbard has raised his scoring average from 21.3 to 23 points per game in his last two games alone.
In addition, Hubbard can also shoot the ball. He has three games with six three-pointers. Hubbard has 19 three-pointers in his last five games.
This is a great player in Hubbard. Kentucky will have its hands full Saturday night.
One more thing: Hubbard is a cousin of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dwayne Wade.
2. No. 10: Jayden Epps — 6-2, 190 lbs. Sr. Guard; Norfolk, Va. (Georgetown Transfer)
Stats: 16 pts/gm., 2 rebs/gm., 45.9 FG%, 32.6 3-PT FG%, 81% FT, 27.8 mpg
Epps is also a really good scorer, with six games scoring 20+ points. He had 27 points in the Bulldogs’ overtime win over Texas to open SEC play.
In addition, Epps has six games with at least three three-pointers.
3. No. 15: Quincy Ballard — 7-0, 260 lbs. R-Sr. Center; Syracuse, N.Y. (Wichita State Transfer)
Stats: 6.8 pts, 7.1 rebs, 18 blk, 56.4 FG%, 70% FT, 22 mpg
Ballard is Mississippi State’s leading rebounder and shot blocker. He has one double-double this season and three games with double-digit rebounds.
Another thing that stands out about Ballard is his efficiency from the field. Ballard has only two games shooting less than 50 percent from the field.
4. No. 5: Shawn Jones Jr. — 6-6, 205 lbs. Sr. Guard; Houston
Stats: 5.8 pts, 5.1 rebs, 38.8 FG%, 19.4 3-PT FG%, 63.6 FT%, 28.2 mpg
Although Ballard struggles to score and shoot, he has 10 games this season with five+ rebounds.
5. No. 99: Achor Achor — 6-9, 230 lbs. R-Sr. Forward; Melbourne, Australia (Kansas State Transfer)
Stats: 4.5 pts, 6.9 rebs, 30.2 FG%, 16.7 3-PT FG%, 73.8 FT%, 16.3 mpg
The 2024 Southern Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Achor, played on a Samford team that season that nearly upset Kansas in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Achor has one double-double this season, and he has three games with 10+ rebounds. In addition, Achor has 27 rebounds over his last two games. That has increased his rebounding average by over a full rebound per game.
Head Coach: Chris Jans (4th Season, 73-45; 10th Season Overall, 216-89)
The last game of both of Jans’s times as an assistant coach came against Kentucky. Jans was an assistant at Wichita State from 2007 to 2014 and again from 2015 to 2017. In 2014, Kentucky knocked off undefeated Wichita State in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament. Three years later, it was Bam Adebayo blocking two shots in the final minute to preserve another Round of 32 win over the Shockers.
Jans has taken the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons as the program’s head coach. The Bulldogs have won 21 games, including eight in the SEC, in each of the previous three seasons.
Prior to Mississippi State, Jans was the head coach at New Mexico for five seasons. The Aggies won three WAC Tournaments and four WAC regular-season titles. Jans was a three-time WAC Coach of the Year. In 2022, the Aggies upset Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, before losing a tough Second Round game against Arkansas despite holding the Razorbacks to 53 points and a 27.5 field goal percentage.
With Wichita State, Jans was part of the Shockers’ 2013 Final Four team that nearly upset Louisville in Atlanta.
Keys to the Game
1. Otega Oweh, take over the game and don’t look back!
With Jayden Quaintance out Saturday night, this is Otega Oweh’s time to take the game over and put the Wildcats on his back. Jaland Lowe can take over a game as well, but this is Oweh’s team. In times like this, your best player needs to step up. Oweh showed that in the first half against Missouri, and he will need to have 40 minutes of that again on Saturday.
2. Rebounding
Mississippi State is a really good rebounding team, averaging 41.4 rebounds per game. But the Bulldogs also allow 38.2 rebounds per game. Opportunities will be there on the boards for Kentucky in this game, and it will be up to players like Malachi Moreno, Brandon Garrison, and others to step up on the boards.
3. Force turnovers and get out in transition
This will help Kentucky with its offensive issues. We saw glimpses of it on Wednesday night. Getting out and running is when Kentucky is at its best. The offensive rhythm is so much better when the Wildcats are pushing the ball aggressively up the floor, which also boosts confidence at a time when Kentucky needs it.
4. Set the tone and just play basketball.
After what’s been another tumultuous week for a team that entered this season with high expectations, Saturday night is all about going out on the floor at Rupp Arena and just playing basketball. Set the tone early and give the fans some positivity going into next week.
Score Prediction: Wildcats 76, Bulldogs 69
I genuinely believe Mark Pope is going to succeed at Kentucky. He loves this University too much for it not to work out. Saturday night, the Wildcats stop the bleeding and get on the board in the SEC.
