Kentucky vs Missouri Prediction 1/7/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Missouri Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Rupp Arena in Lexington. Here’s a Kentucky vs Missouri prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Kentucky vs Missouri pick.

Missouri Tigers Betting Preview

Missouri opened the year with wins over Howard, Southeast Missouri State, VMI, Minnesota, Prairie View, South Dakota, South Carolina State and Cleveland State before a pair of losses to Notre Dame and Kansas. A 3-1 run came in the next four games with wins over Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman and Florida. That would give the Tigers an 11-3 run over their first 14 games this year.

In the Florida game on Saturday the Tigers entered the second half with a 39-39 tie. Missouri hit 37 more points in the second half, eking out a 76-74 win for a thrilling finish at home. The Tigers’ leading scorer was Anthony Robinson with 19 points, eight boards and five assists while Mark Mitchell added 14 points. Jacob Crews chipped in 13 points and four boards also.

Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview

Over on the Kentucky side, they opened the year on a 5-2 run that featured wins over Nicholls, Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, Loyola MD and Tennessee Tech. After losses to North Carolina and Gonzaga the Wildcats beat NC Central, Indiana, St. John’s and Bellarmine before another loss to Alabama. That gives the Wildcats a 9-5 record through 14 games this year.

In the Alabama game on Saturday the Wildcats were down 50-34 by the end of the half. Kentucky got better from there on 40 more points but couldn’t catch up in an 89-74 loss. Otega Oweh led the team on 22 points with eight rebounds and three assists. The only other Wildcat in double-digits was Jeland Lowe with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Why the Kentucky Wildcats will win

• Kentucky has won each of its last 14 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Kentucky has won the first half in 15 of its last 16 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Missouri Tigers will win

• Missouri has won 10 of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Kentucky has lost each of its last three games against Conference opponents.
• Missouri has won the first half in each of its last nine games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Kentucky vs Missouri Prediction

I’ll stick with Kentucky. The Wildcats need a good bounce-back effort here after falling to a great Alabama team at Coleman Coliseum, though. In that one Kentucky shot 42.4 percent from the field and 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from outside with 20-of-29 (69 percent) from the line. The Wildcats were outfoxed on the boards 37-34 and gave up 46.3 percent shooting to the Tide. The loss breaks a four-game win streak, but Kentucky has still put up 72 or more points in all five of those games.

As for Missouri, they finished off a good Florida team last weekend at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers shot 45.5 percent from the field with 31 rebounds and just seven turnovers there, but also missed 12 of their 30 free throws (60 percent). Missouri has scored 76 or more points in all 11 of their wins so far this year, so hitting the scoreboard quickly should be a priority here.