Kentucky is playing their first ever true road game against Texas on Saturday night.
We’re going to learn a lot about the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night in Austin, Texas.
Can the Wildcats come out just four days after winning a marquee game against Tennessee and win on the road, on a Saturday night, against the Longhorns, without Jaxson Robinson or Lamont Butler in a game for the first time this season?
That’s the overriding question going into Saturday night.
The Wildcats haven’t won three in a row since early-mid December when they beat Gonzaga, Colgate, and Louisville. Winning three in a row in the SEC with as banged up of a roster as the Wildcats have would be really impressive.
And while both Butler and Robinson have been in and out of the lineup, this will be the first time Kentucky plays a full game without either guard.
Texas is not going to make it easy for the Wildcats on Saturday night. This is a Longhorns team that can score and shoot, including shooting from 3-point range. Having lost three in a row, the Longhorns are going to get up for this game, especially with their NCAA Tournament hopes at stake.
This is the first time Kentucky is playing Texas in Austin in program history. The last time these two teams played was Dec. 5, 2014 in Lexington, a game won by the Wildcats 63-51.
It was 21 years prior in the 1993 Maui Classic Invitational that the only other Kentucky-Texas matchup took place. Kentucky won that game 86-61, and they won their next two games to win that year’s Maui Classic Invitational.
Let’s look at the Players to Watch on the Longhorns ahead of Saturday night’s game.
Players to Watch
1. #20. Tre Johnson 6’6” 190 lbs. Fr. Guard Garland, Texas
19.3 pts, 2.9 rebs, 43.9 FG%, 38.6 3-PT FG%, 87.4 FT%, 33.2 mpg
The leading scorer in the SEC entering Saturday, Johnson was the No. 5 player in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. In addition, Johnson was the National Junior of the Year by MaxPreps and Mr. Basketball in Texas as a Junior in 2023.
Johnson is a beast of a player. He’s scored in double figures in every game but one this season, and that includes nine 20-point games. He has five 20-point games in SEC play, including 30 points in Texas’s 22-point comeback win against Texas A&M in late January. Eight times Johnson has hit four or more three-pointers, with two games hitting five three-pointers. Durability is a big part of Johnson’s game, especially as a Freshman. Johnson has played 30+ minutes in every game but five this season, including 30+ minutes in 12 straight games. That 12-game stretch includes nine games with 35+ minutes and three straight playing at least 35 minutes.
*2. #6. Arthur Kaluma 6’7” 225 lbs. Sr. Forward Glendale, Ariz. Kansas State Transfer
12.9 pts, 7.9 rebs, 48.4 FG%, 39.7 3-PT FG%, 78% FT, 29.3 mpg
Kaluma is listed as doubtful going into Saturday night’s game, which would be a huge loss for the Longhorns.
Kaluma was one of four players in the Big 12 last season to rank in the top 15 in both scoring and rebounding. He led the Wildcats in rebounding while also ranking third in scoring, assists, steals and minutes. Prior to Kansas State, Kaluma played at Creighton for two seasons and helped lead the Blue Jays to the Elite Eight in 2023.
This season, Kaluma has been a beast. He has six double-doubles and 19 double-digit scoring games that also include 34 points against Auburn and 20 points against UConn. He has eight games with double-digit rebounds. Kaluma is also a really good shooter with five games making multiple 3-pointers. He’s played 35+ minutes seven times this season.
*NOTE: Kaluma is listed as doubtful to play in this one, so Kentucky may avoid seeing the talented forward in Austin.
3. #0. Jordan Pope 6’2” 175 lbs. Jr. Guard Oakley, Calif. Oregon State Transfer
11.4 pts, 1.7 rebs, 29 stl, 43.3 FG%, 36.7 3-PT FG%, 85.4 FT%, 25.1 mpg
Pope’s college career got off to a solid start in his first two seasons at Oregon State. He was Pac12 Honorable Mention last year and Pac12 All-Freshman Team in 2023, scoring nearly 1,000 combined points in two seasons. Pope led the Beavers in scoring, assists and minutes in both of his two seasons in Corvallis, Oregon.
This season, Pope has been a scoring machine. His season-high is 42 points back in mid-December, and he also had a 27-point game at Oklahoma back in January. He has seven games with at least 3-pointers, including two with five and one with eight. Pope has played 30+ minutes three times this season.
4. #12. Tramon Mark 6’5” 200 lbs. Gr. Guard Dickinson, Texas Arkansas Transfer
8.9 pts, 3.6 rebs, 38.2 FG%, 35.9 3-PT FG%, 74.5 FT%, 25 mpg
Playing for the third team in his collegiate career, Mark has accumulated a lot of experience in his career. That includes playing on Houston’s Final Four team in 2021. He played with the Cougars for three seasons, before playing at Arkansas last year. Mark led the Razorbacks in scoring, steals and minutes last year while also ranking second in assists and third in rebounding.
Mark has started 17 of the 20 games he’s played in and has scored in double figures 10 times. He also has pulled down five+ rebounds six times.
5. #5. Kadin Shedrick 6’11” 231 lbs. Gr. Forward Holly Springs, N.C. Virginia Transfer
8.6 pts, 6.2 rebs, 41 blk, 56.5 FG%, 4-14 3-PT FG, 67.4 FT%, 25.9 mpg
Shedrick is in his second season with Texas, after spending the first four seasons of his career at Virginia. He led the Longhorns with 35 blocks last season, while also ranking in the top six on the team in rebounding, scoring, steals and minutes.
He has 15 games this season with multiple blocks, including three games with four. Shedrick also has two double-doubles this season and 11 games scoring in double figures, while also pulling down 10+ rebounds three times.
6. #1. Julian Larry 6’3” 185 lbs. Gr. Guard Frisco, Texas Indiana State Transfer
5.6 pts, 1.6 rebs, 89 ast.-44 TO, 46.1 FG%, 36.1 3-PT FG%, 87.2 FT%, 22.4 mpg
Larry brings a lot of experience to this Longhorns team. Last year on an Indiana State team that, arguably, should have been in the NCAA Tournament. The Frisco, Texas native led the Sycamores in assists, steals, minutes and 3-point shooting.
Larry leads the Longhorns with 88 assists, including 13 in a game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff back in mid-December. He has seven games scoring in double figures this season, including in each of the Longhorns last three games. He’s also started the Longhorns last two games, so the Wildcats will have to account for him a lot on Saturday night.
7. #25. Jayson Kent 6’8” 215 lbs. Gr. Forward Oak Forest, Ill. Indiana State Transfer
5.1 pts, 2.2 rebs, 44.8 FG%, 28.6 3-PT FG%, 61.3 FT%, 15.9 mpg
Kent made the leap from the Missouri Valley Conference to the SEC after transferring from Indiana State this offseason. He was a part of an Indiana State team last year that was third in the country in field goal percentage and 11th in 3-point field goal percentage, so he’s a great fit into what this Texas team is this season. In fact, Kent led the Sycamores last year with a 63.9 field goal percentage.
Even though Texas lost by 23 points against Alabama on Tuesday night, Kent had a season-high 19 points with two 3-pointers. It was Kent’s second game with multiple 3-pointers this season, and he also played a season-high 24 minutes on Tuesday. Kent started the game vs. Texas A&M on January 25th, a game where Texas trailed by 22 points before rallying to win 70-69.
8. #21. Ze’rik Onyema 6’9” 235 lbs. Sr. Forward El Paso, Texas UTEP Transfer
3.6 pts, 2.8 rebs, 60% FG, 63.2 FT%, 10.9 mpg
Onyema is in his second season with Texas, after playing three seasons at UTEP. Rodney Terry was Onyema’s head coach at UTEP in 2020-21, a year he redshirted. He was fourth on the team with 16 blocks while converting 54.5 percent of his shots last year.
Onyema has three double-digit scoring games this season, including a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Florida. He’s played double-digit minutes 14 times, including 20+ minutes twice.
Head Coach: Rodney Terry (3rd season, 2nd season as full-time head coach)
One of the most impressive College Basketball coaching jobs in recent history is the job Rodney Terry did in 2022-2023. Taking over in a dire situation in the middle of the season for Texas, Terry led the Longhorns to a Big 12 Tournament Championship and an Elite Eight appearance. Not to mention, Texas led by 12 points in that Elite Eight game.
This is Terry’s second stint at Texas, having served as an assistant from 2002-2011. His first season in 2002-2003 was when Texas went to the Final Four. The Longhorns went to three Elite Eights, four Sweet 16s and nine NCAA Tournaments in that span, but that’s not all. Ten McDonald’s All-Americans played for Texas in those nine seasons, with the Longhorns producing 13 NBA Draft picks including nine First Round picks and five Lottery picks. Texas also had two National Players of the Year in those nine seasons; T.J. Ford and Kevin Durant.
Terry has also been the head coach at UTEP (three seasons) and Fresno State (seven seasons). He led Fresno State to the 2016 Mountain West Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament. In addition, Terry has also been an assistant at UNC Wilmington and Baylor, helping lead UNC Wilmington to two NCAA Tournaments and a First Round win in 2002
Keys to the Game
1. Match Texas’s sense of urgency and desperation: Texas is still on the right side of the bubble, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Still, though, the Longhorns have to know that that can change, and they know they need to start stacking wins to get into a better position for the SEC and the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns should come out with a sense of urgency, so the Wildcats are going to have to match that, especially in the first four minutes.
2. Rebounding: This Texas team is not a great rebounding team, averaging just 35.4 boards per game. The Wildcats average 39.6 rebounds per game, meaning they can create a mismatch on the glass on Saturday night.
3. Create turnovers: The Wildcats are at their best when they get out in transition, including off of creating turnovers. Texas averages 13.5 assists per game and just 9.5 turnovers per game. Kentucky needs to turn Texas over in this game, which will create opportunities in transition for Koby Brea, Travis Perry, Trent Noah and others.
4. Limit the scoreless stretches: The Longhorns can score. That means Kentucky can’t go into lengthy stretches where they don’t score. Alabama scored 103 points on Tuesday night at Texas. They kept the pressure on the Longhorns for 40 minutes, which is what Kentucky needs to do on Saturday night.
Score Prediction: Kentucky 89, Texas 86
I think this game is going to be high-scoring. Even without Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler, the Wildcats have plenty of good scoring options to keep up with the Longhorns’ offense. This is a game the Wildcats should win, but it will be a 40-minute battle in Austin, Texas on Saturday night.