Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Prediction 2/19/25 College Basketball Picks Today

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

Vanderbilt Commodores Betting Preview

Vanderbilt got off to a great start this year, but they’ve been choppy since early January amid some tough matchups. The Commodores beat MD Eastern Shore, Southeast Missouri State, Cal, Jackson State, Nevada, and Seton Hall out of the gate in their first six before a loss to Drake. Wins over Tennessee Tech, Virginia Tech, TCU, the Citadel, Austin Peay, New Orleans, and LSU came next, then losses to Mississippi State and Missouri. Since then it’s been a 4-5 run for the Commodores with wins over South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas. The losses otherwise have come versus Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee. That gives the Commodores a 17-8 overall run through their first 25 outings of the season.

In the Tennessee matchup on Saturday, the Commodores opened the game with a 44-31 advantage. Vanderbilt was outscored 50-32 the rest of the way however, and ended up losing 81-76 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Jason Edwards with 24 points, one rebound, and one steal. Jaylen Carey was the only other player on the team to finish in double-figures, notching 18 points with seven rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes of work off the bench. Both Tyler Nickel and Chris Manon chipped in nine points each as well.

Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview

Over on the Kentucky side, they similarly began the year on a great run but started faltering a bit in mid-January. The Wildcats went 14-3 over their first 17 outings, falling to only Clemson, Ohio State, and Georgia. Kentucky beat Wright State, Bucknell, Duke, Lipscomb, Jackson State, Western Kentucky, Georgia State, Gonzaga, Colgate, Louisville, Brown, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M otherwise during that time. Since then the Wildcats are just 3-5 in their last eight outings. The wins were over Tennessee, South Carolina, and Tennessee again. The losses came versus Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Texas. The result so far has been a 17-8 overall record through 25 games this year also.

Matched up against Texas on the road Saturday, the Wildcats were looking good after the first half with a 41-37 edge. Kentucky was outscored 45-37 from there, however, and ended up falling 82-78 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Otega Oweh with 20 points and five rebounds with a pair of steals. Amari Williams managed to double up with 18 points, 12 boards, and three assists, while Ansley Almonor added 11 points with three rebounds and one assist.

Why the Kentucky Wildcats will win

• Vanderbilt has lost each of its last nine night games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Kentucky has won 13 of its last 14 games at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Kentucky has won the first half in 19 of its last 20 night games at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Vanderbilt Commodores will win

• Kentucky has lost each of its last four night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• The road team has won the first half in each of Vanderbilt’s last five games.

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt Prediction

I’m going to lean toward Kentucky here. We should have a pretty good matchup on our hands regardless, though. The Wildcats are coming off a tough road loss versus a talented Texas team thanks to a slow second half. Kentucky was competitive on the boards in that one but shot a tepid 41.9 percent from the field with 15 turnovers for 21 Longhorns points. The Wildcats will be happy to get back home following four road games in their last seven outings (and two more road games within the next week).

Kentucky took a 74-69 road loss the last time these teams met up back on January 25. The Wildcats had a pretty miserable first half in that one (a 41-27 deficit) and couldn’t dig out of the hole. The rebounding was good for Kentucky (43-30), but they got into turnover trouble with 17 for 14 Commodores points. The Wildcats absolutely must remedy their ball control issues ahead of this matchup or they’re going to suffer a similar fate. With a home game and a revenge aspect to this one though, I like Kentucky to power it out.