Kentucky went 1-1 this past week, hosting Vanderbilt on Wednesday night and playing on the road this past Saturday at #4 Alabama. This marks the fourth straight week that Kentucky has gone 1-1 during the week. Three of those losses were on the road and one of course was Arkansas at home.

Kentucky heads out west tonight for just the second time this season, facing the Oklahoma Sooners. First, Kentucky traveled to play at Texas on February 15th, which was just a few games ago. Now they are facing the Sooners on the road in Lloyd Noble Center for Otega Oweh’s return. Both Texas and Oklahoma are the new faces of the Southeastern Conference this season, so both trips are currently brand new for what will be routine for many more years to come.

Kentucky was impressive in their victory over Vanderbilt a week ago, as they defeated the Commodores by 21 in Rupp Arena. The game in Tuscaloosa started off strong in the Wildcats’ favor, but you could quickly tell that Alabama is just truly in a different tier than Kentucky is at this moment on offense, putting up 96 points and out-dueling Kentucky in scoring.

Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope was asked about how both Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson looked this week as they returned to practice.

“We want them back on the court as much as the fans do…. they’re as good as ever.”

“I feel like it’s only a matter of time before they get back out there.”

Lamont Butler has been out since the Tennessee home game, and Jaxson Robinson has been out since the South Carolina home game.

Last night the initial availability report came out and there was a couple of pleasant surprises to it. Both Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson were listed as “Probable” for Kentucky’s matchup with Oklahoma. Probable is 75% or higher that the player will play. With that being said, don’t look for either Butler or Robinson to play extended minutes if they don’t have to. I’m sure Mark Pope is hoping to ease them back into the rotation and to not over do it.

With there only being four more games left in the regular season and one of those being #1 Auburn, and then #14 Missouri on the road, wins are getting harder to find. That’s why tonight is crucial for this Kentucky team for both the SEC Tournament seeding, as well as, the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma has had spurts this year of looking fairly good as they have beaten some good teams, but they have also looked really bad at times too, racking up a 17-10 (4-10 SEC) record coming into this game.

With all being said, I think Kentucky goes into Norman tonight and picks up a win to get to 19 victories on the season. It won’t be easy and they’ll have to have their usual suspects to perform on the level that we know they can, but I am predicting a win, 83-77. I think the game MVP will be former Sooner, Otega Oweh.

Other Cats Coverage staff predictions are as followed:

Tim Smith: 95-83, Kentucky. MVP – Koby Brea

Ethan Grantz: 89-81, Kentucky. MVP – Lamont Butler

Braden Nevius: 91-82, Kentucky. MVP – Otega Oweh

Nate Unthank: 83-70, Kentucky. MVP – Amari Williams

Jacob Childers: 87-75, Kentucky. MVP – Andrew Carr

Tres Terrell: 85-78, Kentucky. MVP – Otega Oweh

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