Andrija Jelavić will face a former teammate when Kentucky plays Auburn

Kentucky’s Andrija Jelavić was one of several players from last season’s Mega Superbet, a basketball club based in the Adriatic League, who made the jump to college basketball in 2025-26. He’ll face one of his former teammates on Saturday.

And that will be Auburn’s Filip Jović, a 6-foot-8 forward who played alongside Jelavić in the Mega Superbet frontcourt. Those two created a potent scoring punch in Serbia’s top-tier basketball league. Jelavić averaged 11 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing, while Jović added 12.3 points and four rebounds per contest. They were two of the five Mega Superbet players who moved to the United States back in the offseason to play college ball.

Both players have filled in nicely as role players for their respective teams, too, even posting similar numbers since the start of SEC play.

• Jelavić (11 games, 10 starts): 5.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 17.2 MPG | 52.2 FG%, 40.9 3PT%, 45.5 FT%
• Jović (13 games, 0 starts): 5.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 16 MPG | 70.7 FG%, 0 3PT%, 52.8 FT%

Jović has essentially been serving as the seventh man in Steven Pearl’s rotation at Auburn. He’s flashed moments of brilliance throughout the season, but not all that often. After pouring in a season-high 23 points in a tight win over South Carolina on Jan. 17, Jović has yet to score more than eight points in any game since. He was held scoreless in Auburn’s most recent outing, a loss to Mississippi State, when he played his fewest amount of minutes (11) since Jan. 6.

Meanwhile, Jelavić has also struggled to find a rhythm. Injuries to his Kentucky teammates allowed him to earn a spot in the starting lineup, where he’s been for the last 10 games. His shooting numbers impress on paper, and he grades out as a high-level rebounder, but his decision-making and defense have yet to hit a breakthrough. It’s still a learning process for the 21-year-old sophomore.

“It’s first-year guys,” Head coach Mark Pope said Thursday about Jelavić. “He’s got a big upside and that’s exactly how it is. It’s just the progress of it. And I love it. I think he’s a beautiful kid and I think he’s got big-time potential. It’s just growing.”

Kentucky could use a big game from Jelavić on Saturday to end its two-game losing skid.

This also won’t be the first time this season that Jelavić has gone up against one of his former international teammates, either. When UK smacked Mississippi State 92-68 back on Jan. 10, Jelavić lined up across the court from Bulldogs forward Sergej Macura, who went scoreless in his 18 minutes. Jelavić added three points and five rebounds in his 17 minutes.

We’ll see what he can do against Jović down in Auburn.