Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Kentucky Wildcats Prediction & Game Preview - 2/2/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY

Where to watch: SEC Network

DraftKings: Kentucky -15.5

BetMGM: Kentucky -16.5

Caesars: Kentucky -15.5

Vanderbilt: 11-9 (3-5 SEC)

No. 5 Kentucky: 17-4 (6-2 SEC)

There doesn’t appear to be any stopping of the Kentucky Wildcats right now, and I like the No. 5 team in the country to keep this pace rolling Wednesday against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Wildcats have won six of seven and 10 of 12 dating back to Dec. 18, and are coming off perhaps their most impressive win to this point, an 80-62 dominant effort at the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12-SEC Challenge over the weekend.

Keion Brooks Jr. had a game-high 27 points to go along with eight rebounds, while double-double machine Oscar Tshiebwe had 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while adding four steals in what was a dominant defensive display.

The Wildcats held the Jayhawks to just 40.7 percent shooting and the home team went only 6 of 18 from 3-point range.

"I don't even know who we played two weeks ago," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "We've won a lot of games against ranked teams, all kinds of different ways. I've done this a long time and I've been in many of these games on the road where it's (ESPN College) Game Day. I told the team, ‘All the pressure is on the other team. If you play for 40 minutes, watch what happens.'"

It’s not often Kentucky finds itself as underdogs, but for the second time in three games, that’s what the Wildcats found themselves as; UK was 3-point dogs Jan. 22 against the No. 1 Auburn Tigers, losing 80-71. But Kentucky’s victory over Kansas was the Wildcats’ first cover in four games; they hadn’t covered since being 4.5-point favorites against Tennessee on Jan. 15 in a 28-point win at home.

Kentucky is 5-5 against the spread in the last 10 and is only 10-11 overall this season. The key is Kentucky hasn’t lost at Rupp Arena this season, going 13-0. And they’ll be welcoming a Vanderbilt team that’s just 4-3 on the road while being 9-11 against the spread.

The Commodores are coming off an 85-77 win against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday that ended a three-game losing streak. Scottie Pippen Jr. had 23 points and nine assists in a wire-to-wire victory over the struggling Bulldogs.

But things are promising in the third year of Jerry Stackhouse’s tenure at Vanderbilt; the 11 wins matched the most he had in his first season in 2019-20. If he can get Pippen Jr. back for another season, although unlikely, next season could be a breakthrough.

In this game, though, the Commodores don’t have the depth to combat Kentucky. In their last meeting on Jan. 11, Pippen Jr. went for 32 points and Vanderbilt still lost 78-66. The Commodores are 1-7 against the spread after a conference game this season.

Being at home, where the Wildcats seem unstoppable, give me the home team it what should be a cruise-control victory for the Cats. Kentucky by 15

The under is 4-0 in Vanderbilt's last four games as an underdog.

Vanderbilt is 0-4 ATS in its last four.

Kentucky is 4-13 ATS in its last 17 following an ATS win.

PG: Drew Weikert

SG: Scottie Pippen Jr.
SF: Jordan Wright
PF: Myles Stute
C: Quentin Millora-Brown

PG: Sahvir Wheeler

SG: TyTy Washington Jr.
SF: Kellan Grady
PF: Keion Brooks Jr.
C: Oscar Tshiebwe