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Gameday preview: Texas travels to Kentucky needing a resume bolstering win

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook01/21/26josephcook89

There are 84 bracket prognosticators aggregated on BracketMatrix.com. At the current juncture, Texas is in the field of 68 on only 34 of them.

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Texas is currently No. 42 in the NET rankings, which the selection committee uses as its primary sorting tool. It is a respectable 3-4 in Quadrant 1 games, which are battles against top 30 opponents at home, top 50 opponents at a neutral site, and top 75 opponents on the road. But Texas is 0-2 in Quadrant 2 games, 0-1 in its lone Quadrant 3 game, and an inconsequential 7-0 in Quadrant 4 games.

Texas is listed as a 10 or 11 seed in most of the projections. A spot on the 10-line would keep Texas from having to make a return trip to Dayton. With an 11-seed, Texas could be First Four bound for the second straight year.

Tonight’s game versus Kentucky is therefore a crucial one. Not only can the Longhorns jump back to .500 in SEC play, they can also record another Quadrant 1 victory considering Kentucky is ranked No. 29 in the NET rankings at the moment.

In On3’s most recent bracketology article, Texas was listed as one of the first four out. A win in Lexington, no easy task, would be a big boost toward Texas’ getting out of limbo and into the field of 68 with 13 SEC contests left to go after the battle with UK.

Game notes via UT

Game 19: TEXAS (11-7, 2-3 SEC) at Kentucky (12-6, 3-2 SEC)
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 – 6 p.m. Central / 7 p.m. Eastern
Rupp Arena (20,545) – Lexington, Kentucky

  • TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally by SEC Network with Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Richard Hendrix (analyst) on the call.
  • RADIO: The Longhorn Radio Network broadcasts every UT game on the statewide network. Craig Way (pxp) and Eddie Oran (analyst) will call the action. Check TexasLonghorns.com for a listing of affiliates carrying the game.
  • SERIES: Kentucky leads, 2-1. Last meeting: Texas 82-78 (Feb. 15, 2025; Austin).

Notables

  • FIRST TIME IN RUPP IN A WHILE: This marks just the fourth all-time meeting between Kentucky and Texas and the first time since the 2014-15 season that the Longhorns have played in Lexington.
  • GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Longhorns are averaging 86.3 ppg while converting 48.5-percent from the floor. The 86.3 ppg marks the highest scoring average for Texas since 1994-95 (92.9 ppg) and the first time Texas has averaged over 80 ppg since 2009-10 (81.2 ppg). UT ranks No. 17 nationally in the latest KenPom offensive efficiency stats.
  • ON THE MARK: Over the last eight contests, graduate G Tramon Mark has averaged a team-best 17.8 ppg while hitting 49.1-percent (51-104) from the floor, including a 40.5-percent (15-37) mark from three-point range, and recorded at least 13 points in each of the eight games. In SEC play, Mark is averaging a team-high 18.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 32.9 mpg.

Previous starting five and key depth for Kentucky

G Otega Oweh: 15.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg
G Denzel Aberdeen: 12.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.2 apg
C Malachi Moreno: 8.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 apg
G Kam Williams: 6.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg
F Andrija Jelavic: 5.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.4 apg
–
F Mouhamed Dioubate: 9.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.8 apg
G Colin Chandler: 8.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
G Jasper Johnson: 6.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.4 apg
F Brandon Garrison: 4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 apg

2025-26 Texas roster

PlayerNumberGradePPGRPGAPGPrevious School
Jordan Pope0Sr.13.22.12.4Oregon State
Cole Bott1Gr.0.50.20.2
Chendall Weaver2Sr.6.44.91.2UT-Arlington
Dailyn Swain3Jr.15.77.23.3Xavier
Declan Duru Jr.4Fr.1.41.30.0
Camden Heide5Jr.6.53.10.8Purdue
Simeon Wilcher7Jr.8.12.31.9St. John’s
Matas Vokietaitis8So.15.26.40.3FAU
John Clark9Fr.N/AN/AN/A
Nic Codie10So.4.52.90.4
Tramon Mark12Gr.13.43.22.2Arkansas
Lewis Obiorah14Fr.N/AN/AN/A
Lassina Traore23Gr.4.06.10.6Xavier
Anthon McDermott33R-Fr.0.90.60.3
Brandon Taylor44Gr.0.80.50.0East Texas A&M

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