Just a few days ago I talked about how this week would really show what this Kentucky squad is made of. Especially with there being basically two true road games, at Clemson and at Gonzaga, with the Gonzaga game taking place on a neutral court. There is no sugar coating it, Kentucky’s performance last Tuesday night against Clemson was highly disappointing to say the least.

Kentucky struggled to find their shot all night and even when they did they couldn’t seem to find the bottom of the basket consistently. Of course it did not help that they had some foul trouble early on in the first half with star point guard, Lamont Butler. Butler also tweaked his ankle in the second half, both things resulting in him being out for a majority of the game.

Kerr Kriisa tried to come in and pick up the slack for an absent Butler, but there wasn’t much improvement. He struggled all night from his shooting performance to his costly turnovers. It was just not his night.

Another player that seemed to look lost was former ACC star, Andrew Carr. Carr was my pick for the player of the game but he only finished with a five point performance, going 1-7 from the field.

Tonight Kentucky finds themselves in a top-10 matchup as they face the number seven ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Bulldogs, a long with the Wildcats of Kentucky, are both 7-1 on the season coming into tonight’s game. Gonzaga has a couple of good wins on their resume this season such as a win over ranked Baylor, Arizona State, and at ranked San Diego State. Their only loss came against West Virginia in an overtime result for the Maui Invitational.

Mark Pope said earlier this week that Lamont’s ankle could be a “little bit of a concern” going forward and we will have to wait and see if he is able to go tonight. This is just my personal opinion, but I think he will give it a go. But unfortunately he won’t be 100 percent healthy if he does.

Oddly enough I think Kentucky matches up with Gonzaga a little bit better than they did Clemson in this one. Clemson beat Kentucky by being more physical but Gonzaga, like Kentucky, likes to run and get shots up in transition.

I think this will play in the favor of the Wildcats, however, with how we saw Kentucky shoot the last three games it is a bit of a concern for me. I don’t see many teams blowing this Kentucky team out but I do think overall with this game being on the road that it will be too much for the Wildcats to overcome. I have Gonzaga winning a close one, 84-77. I project Kentucky’s MVP to be Otega Oweh.

Some more the Cats Coverage staff predictions are as followed:

Tim Smith: 93-85, Gonzaga. MVP – Kerr Kriisa

Jack Wagner: 80-72, Gonzaga. MVP – Andrew Carr

Tres Terrell: 85-79, Gonzaga. MVP – Otega Oweh

Ethan Grantz: 90-84, Kentucky. MVP – Otega Oweh

Jacob Childers: 85-68, Gonzaga. MVP – Andrew Carr

Tanin Smith: 81-74, Gonzaga. MVP – Otega Oweh

Nate Unthank: 82-80, Kentucky. MVP – Travis Perry

Thanks for reading! We hope to see you again. To not miss any breaking news, follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter to see our daily content in real time.