Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Prediction 1/25/25 College Basketball Picks

The Kentucky Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores meet Saturday in college basketball action from Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym. Here’s a Kentucky vs Vanderbilt prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Kentucky vs Vanderbilt pick. We will examine:

The Kentucky Wildcats’ recent form and player performance

The Vanderbilt Commodores’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Kentucky Wildcats

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Vanderbilt Commodores

Recent betting trends in games played between Kentucky and Vanderbilt

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Kentucky vs Vanderbilt game

Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview

The Wildcats have been on a nice run overall this year, and they’re yet to lose consecutive games. Kentucky opened the season on a great pace but they’ve been relatively choppy lately. The Wildcats took out Wright State, Bucknell, Duke, Lipscomb, Jackson State, Western Kentucky, Georgia State, Gonzaga, Colgate, and Louisville (with a lone loss to Clemson) during a 10-1 opening run. Kentucky has since gone 4-3 over the past seven games, though. The losses in that time came versus Ohio State, Georgia, and Alabama. Otherwise, it’s been wins over Brown, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M, giving Kentucky a 14-4 overall record through the first 18 games of the 2024-25 season so far.

In the Alabama game last Saturday, the Wildcats came out of the break looking up at a 47-45 deficit. Kentucky didn’t end up getting any closer than that on a 55-52 stretch and lost the game 102-97 in the end. Leading the team in the losing effort was Otega Oweh with 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Amari Williams added a double-double of 13 points with 11 boards, and Lamont Butler had 17 points with eight assists and four rebounds.

Vanderbilt Commodores Betting Preview

Over on the Vanderbilt side, they also got off to a great start this year, dropping just one outing during their first 14 games. The Commodores likewise have had a choppy schedule amid some tough matchups lately, though. Vanderbilt took just one loss to Drake on November 24 amid their first 14 outings. The wins otherwise came courtesy of Maryland Eastern Shore, Southeast Missouri State, California, Jackson State, Nevada, Seton Hall, Tennessee Tech, Virginia Tech, TCU, the Citadel, Austin Peay, New Orleans, and LSU in that time. After consecutive losses to Mississippi State and Missouri, the Commodores beat South Carolina and Tennessee before taking another defeat by Alabama. The result was a 15-4 overall run through 19 games.

Matched up against Alabama in the Tuesday outing, the Commodores were drilled 48-31 in the first half. Vanderbilt got better from there on a 56-55 advantage but eventually lost 103-87 in the end. Leading team scorer Jason Edwards managed 19 points with four boards and two assists. Devin McGlockton added 10 points with 14 rebounds in 29 minutes of work,, and MJ Collins came off the bench to provide 10 points with two rebounds in 21 minutes.

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Prediction

I’ll probably try Vanderbilt here. We should have a fun matchup if both teams play to their capabilities, though. The Commodores (understandably) didn’t play all that well versus a great Alabama team in their last outing, shooting just 38.7 percent from the field with a 44-39 rebounding deficit and 10 turnovers for 17 Tide points. Vanderbilt also gave up 56.3 percent shooting on the other side. That said, the Commodores have scored a combined 163 points across their last two games, which is a nice turnaround after 66 or fewer in the three games before that.

As for Kentucky, they had their own issues with Alabama in their last game but did manage to stay within five points. The Wildcats have notched 81 or more points in three straight games (a 2-1 run), so Vanderbilt is going to have to hit the gas in order to keep pace.