LSU Tigers vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction & Match Preview - January 23, 2021 | NCAA Men's Basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats will host their in-conference rivals, the LSU Tigers, in an SEC Showdown on Saturday night.
Kentucky has lost three straight games and seem to have fallen back to their 2020 ways after starting the new year with a three-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, the LSU Tigers are coming off a 30-point loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, dropping them to 10-3 for the year.
Match Details
Fixture: LSU Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats - NCAA Men's Basketball
Date & Time: Saturday, January 23, 2021, 6 PM ET
Venue: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats Preview
The Kentucky Wildcats are coming off a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. They allowed a game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds to end a 14-game winning steak over their SEC competitor.
The last time the Bulldogs beat the Wildcats, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the current LA Laker, was a part of the team.
Kentucky's largest concern at the moment is their lack of care for the basketball. During the Wildcats' current three-game losing streak, they have turned the ball over 18 times a game. That ranks them in the bottom-15 for all Division I programs, per teamrankings.com.
Key Player - Brandon Boston Jr.
The five-star freshman, Brandon Boston Jr., has struggled to transfer his game from high school to college. Boston Jr. is the teams leading scorer with 12 points per game but is shooting just 36.6% from the field and 16.3% from three.
The freshman guard was dismissed from the starting lineup in the latest game, but Kentucky head coach, John Calipari, is encouraging his young player to keep working hard, per Kyle Tucker.
Boston Jr. will continue to stay the course and look to build off his latest performance, where he scored 18 points and had seven rebounds.
Kentucky Wildcats Predicted Lineup
F Olivier Sarr, F Lance Ware, G Davion Mintz, G Dontaie Allen, G Devin Askew
LSU Tigers Preview
The LSU Tigers defense was exposed on Tuesday night, as the Alabama Crimson Tide handed them their worst loss of the season, 105-75.
Typically, LSU can overcome their poor defense with their offensive output, but their starters have let them down. Four of the Tigers' top scorers scored lower than their season average and shot just 34% from the floor.
LSU's head coach, Will Wade, believes that his team lacked effort in the game but took the blame for the loss:
"The guys did not have the right energy or the right hunger needed for this game. Don't put that on the players. Put that on me."
Look for Coach Wade to have his team ready to go against the Kentucky WIldcarts come Saturday night.
Key Player - Cameron Thomas
Cameron Thomas will be the LSU Tigers' key player in their attempt to bounce back against the Kentucky Wildcats. The freshman guard is the leading scorer for the Tigers, averaging 22 points a game.
Thomas will need to put up his season average to earn his team a win against the Kentucky Wildcats, who have a top-20 defense holding opponent to 91.7 points per 100 possession, per Kenpom.com.
LSU Tigers Predicted Lineup
F Darius Days, F Trendon Watford, G Mwani Wilkinson, G Javonte Smart, G Cameron Thomas
LSU vs. Kentucky Prediction
The LSU Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats are both coming off disappointing losses and are looking to bounce back on Saturday night, so expect a closely contested matchup.
However, the LSU Tigers have allowed 80 points or more in four of their last five SEC games and let the Crimson Tide shoot 23 for 42 from three in their previous outing.
Expect the Kentucky Wildcats, who have struggled on offense this season, to take advantage of the LSU Tigers' lack of perimeter defense and earn their fourth SEC win.
Where to watch LSU vs. Kentucky
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.