After the UK men’s basketball team defeated Auburn, the Cats’ ranking shifted up by four to No. 8 in the AP poll. The Kentucky Wildcats hope to keep the trend by beating their newest opponent, the No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday. Kentucky leads the all-time series 4-1.

Head Coach: Ben Howland (fourth season at Mississippi State )

Record: 14-3 overall record, 2-2 in Southeastern Conference play.

Likely starters

#0 Nick Weatherspoon: Sophomore Guard, 6-2. 10.3 PPG and 2.6 APG.

#2 Lamar Peters: Junior Guard, 6-2. 13.3 PPG and 5.8 APG.

#11 Quinndary Weatherspoon: Senior Guard, 6-4. 16.6 PPG and 2.9 APG.

#24 Abdul Ado: Redshirt Sophomore Forward, 6-11. 5.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG. 

#35 Aric Holman: Senior Forward, 6-10. 12. 4 PPG and 1.8 APG.

Mississippi Threats

This year, Mississippi State returns their top six leading scores from last year. Four out the five leading scores are most likely start for their Wildcat matchup. Notably, Quinndary Weatherspoon is one of five in the SEC to have 20 or more points in six different games. He is also the team’s leading scorer. The team has had 11 occurrences of players scoring 20-plus in a single game. Lamar Peters leads the team in assists, averaging 5.8 per game.

The Wildcats will need to defend their home court in order to take victory.

“We’re going to have to be as good as we were defensively at Auburn at home tomorrow,” UK assistant coach Tony Barbee said.

 Aric Holman leads Mississippi State in blocks, averaging 2.2 per game. He ranks 10^th in career blocks for the team. Holman also leads the team is rebounds with 8.1 per game.

“He’s confident in what he is doing, and he’s shooting the ball as good as anybody in our league, guard or big or in between,” Barbee said about Holman.

Kentucky versus Mississippi State

The Kentucky Wildcats and Mississippi State Bulldogs will tip-off Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Rupp Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.