Kentucky men’s basketball (6-4) is set to face Indiana (8-2) on Saturday night inside Rupp Arena, renewing a historic rivalry that dates back to 1924.
Kentucky and Indiana played annually through 2011 before the series was discontinued by then-Kentucky head coach John Calipari and then-Indiana head coach Tom Crean.
After the split, the programs met twice in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky defeated Indiana 102-90 in 2012, when UK was a No. 1 seed and the Hoosiers were a No. 4 seed. Indiana later won 73-67 in 2016, when IU was a No. 5 seed and Kentucky was a No. 4 seed.
Kentucky holds a 32-25 advantage in the all-time series, and it appeared the rivalry would remain dormant unless the two teams met again in the NCAA Tournament.
That changed in 2023, when Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart and Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson agreed to a home-and-home series that will begin in the 2025-26 season.
Hoo-Hoo-Hoo, Hoosiers!
Under first-year head coach Darian DeVries, Indiana started the season unranked in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, receiving just one vote.
Following a 5-0 start that included a notable win over Marquette of the Big East, the Hoosiers earned a No. 25 ranking in the Week 4 AP poll, marking their first appearance in the rankings since Week 4 of last season.
In the Week 5 rankings, DeVries’ squad climbed to No. 22 after a 17-point win over Kansas State and a 44-point win over Bethune-Cookman. Indiana later fell out of the top 25 following losses to Minnesota and No. 6 Louisville.
Indiana enters Rupp Arena following a 41-point, 113-72 win over Penn State. In the victory, guard Lamar Wilkerson scored a career-high 44 points while shooting 10-of-21 from 3-point range.
Wilkerson, a Sam Houston transfer, narrowed his options to Kentucky and Indiana after a breakout 2024-25 season with the Bearkats. Kentucky ultimately missed out, adding extra intrigue to the matchup.
Wilkerson is averaging 18.8 points, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, presenting a difficult test for Kentucky’s guards.
Alongside Wilkerson, forward Tucker DeVries, a West Virginia transfer, serves as Indiana’s primary option, averaging 17.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
As a team, Indiana is averaging 88.2 points per game while allowing 66.9.
C-A-T-S Cats Cats Cats!
Up to this point, in head coach Mark Pope’s second season, the Wildcats have had a tough time against quad-one opponents, showing an 0-4 record, with losses coming to No. 6 Louisville, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 11 Gonzaga.
Following a string of underwhelming outings, Kentucky plummeted from No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll to unranked by this week, its first time out of the top 25 since 2023.
It’s been a disastrous season for UK up until this point, but against an old foe, Saturday night proves to be a significant chance for the Cats to begin turning their season around, especially after a momentum-building 36-point win over North Carolina Central on Tuesday night.
Against the Eagles, freshman guard Jasper Johnson scored a game-high and career-high 22 points, which was followed by a season-high 21-point showing from senior guard Otega Oweh, a potential confidence-boosting night for the two of them.
Oweh leads the Wildcats on the scoresheet, recording an average of 14.4 points per game.
As a team, the Cats are currently scoring an average of 85.5 points per game while giving up an average of 67 points per game, nearly similar to the Hoosiers.
Tipoff for Saturday night’s contest is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed on ESPN, with legendary broadcasters Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley on the call.
