Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. North Carolina
Two of college basketball’s blue bloods will meet on Tuesday night as No. 18 Kentucky hosts 16th ranked North Carolina inside Rupp Arena (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Kentucky has won eight NCAA Tournament titles, while North Carolina has won six. The Cats have won more basketball games than any other Division I program, while North Carolina is third. North Carolina has made the most trips to the Final Four, with 21, while Kentucky is second in that category with 17.
The Cats are 5-2 this season, having lost to Louisville and Michigan State. Those losses left a bad taste in the mouths of UK players, according to Otega Oweh.
“That’s the biggest thing for us. We’ve been waiting for these types of games since we’ve lost both of them,” Oweh said. “So, for us, just going out there knowing that we’re one of those teams, one of the better teams, we have to compete as such.”
Oweh said that the Cats have watched the film of both losses and that they have identified some shortcomings, which they have been working on in practice.
“We all know what needs to be done, we all know what we slipped up on,” Oweh said. “Transition defense, rebounding. Just overall, our physicality.”
North Carolina is 6-1 this season. The Tar Heels have a win over Kansas, but most recently lost to Michigan State by a similar margin in which the Spartans beat the Cats. Oweh has seen North Carolina on tape and is impressed with them.
“They’re physical. Just a physical team,” Oweh said. “They’re big. We’re preparing for that physicality and their height.”
North Carolina is one of the few programs that actually has a winning record against Kentucky. All time, the Tar Heels lead the series 25-18. Kentucky has won eight of the 14 contests played in Lexington and the Cats have also won the last two meetings between the schools, both on neutral courts.
North Carolina at a Glance
Kentucky welcomes North Carolina to Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center on Tuesday for the ACC/SEC Challenge.
• Kentucky is 1-1 in the challenge, having beaten Miami at home in 2023, while falling to Clemson on the road a season ago
• North Carolina owns the edge in the series all-time with a 25-18 overall mark. Kentucky has won the last two in the series
• This marks the first non neutral-site meeting between the two teams since No. 1 Kentucky outlasted No. 21 North Carolina by an 84-70 score on Dec. 13, 2014
• Malik Monk owns the scoring record in the series, scoring 47 points in a Kentucky win on Dec. 17, 2016 in Las Vegas
• The highest scoring game in the series was a 121-110 win by the Tar Heels on Dec. 27, 1989
• Caleb Wilson leads North Carolina with 19.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. The Tar Heels enter the matchup with a 6-1 overall record
• North Carolina opened the season with six straight victories, including an 87-74 win at home over Kansas
• The teams have a mutual opponent in Michigan State, with North Carolina falling by 74-58 score
Last Time Out
The Wildcats defeated Tennessee Tech 104-54 on Wednesday.
• The 50-point margin of victory is largest for UK under head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has four wins this season with at least 40-point margins, the quickest into a season in UK history (seven games) with four such games.
• This was Kentucky’s seventh 100-point game under Pope, all victories
• With Tech scoring 54 points, UK is now 17-0 under Pope when holding the opponent under 70.
• It was just the third time since 2004-05 that Kentucky shot at least 66 percent on 2-point field goals, 50 percent on 3-pointers and 84 percent at the free throw line. Also achieved the feat on Feb. 24, 2024 vs. Alabama and Jan. 15, 2022 vs. Tennessee
• Kentucky made 15 triples on the night. UK is 19-4 under Pope when making double digits from distance and 3-1 this season.
• This is just the third time since 2004-05 that UK had at least eight players make a 3-pointer in a game, also Nov. 22, 2024 vs. Jackson State and Dec. 31, 2024 vs. Brown.
• The 15 3-pointers made and the 50 percent mark are season highs in both categories.
• The 27 assists tied the season high.
• Trent Noah (career high), Otega Oweh (season high) and Denzel Aberdeen all tallied 16 points to lead the scoring for the Cats.
• Walker Horn and Zach Tow scored the first points of their careers
