Heading into the matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers, not many believed Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats would win without point guard Lamont Butler. Andrew Carr played through his back injury, but after one short stint in the game coming off the bench,

With a 17-3 record, Tennessee ranks No. 8 nationally behind Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama, Florida, Houston, and Michigan State. Kentucky is on their trail at No. 12 with only Marquette, Purdue, and Kansas in between. When: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. ET

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ESPN. Fans looking to watch this college basketball game can do so by using FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but does have other promotional offers available.

For Kentucky, the game before The Game was a tough one on paper — a Tuesday night road contest against Rick Barnes' Tennessee Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in the country just a few weeks ago and listed as 10.

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 78-73 win against the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville on Tuesday night:

Tennessee basketball's vaunted 3-point defense collapsed against Kentucky's 3-point attack on Tuesday at Food City Center in a near-replay from last March, while its 3-point shooting couldn't match the Wildcats.

How Mark Pope’s Wildcats and Rick Barnes’ Volunteers match up at each position for Tuesday’s SEC men’s basketball showdown.