Given mere months to construct a roster after being hired as Kentucky’s head coach last spring, there was no way Mark Pope and his staff could’ve familiarized themselves with the entire transfer portal in such a short amount of time.

Yet, based on what he calls the “Moneyball” approach, he plucked Ansley Almonor from the bottom of the figurative transfer portal barrel. Coming into the season, he was ranked 345th on On3’s list of players looking for a new home.

Now? Almonor started a long stretch of SEC games in Andrew Carr’s absence and has tallied a number of big performances, including a season-high 13 points in a home win over the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers earlier this month.

The “Moneyball” Approach

“I didn’t know Ansley at all before I was here at Kentucky,” Pope admitted in his presser on Thursday. “We have a bunch of different prongs of our portal attack, and one of them is kind of the Moneyball space of how we run with guys in the portal.“

“You have your Excel spreadsheet with all of the columns of data, and we start to say, ‘Okay, let’s forget the algorithm that puts all that data together and then ranks players, and let’s just only go to like these three data points and throughout all the other data and see who raises to the top of the list if we do that?”

Enter: Almonor, a transfer from Farleigh Dickinson, flying well under everyone’s radar.

“His name came up pretty prominently on a list of guys we’re like, what do you think? Is there any way?” Pope said. “And then we started to watch film… He was a good scorer, and he had a creative vibe as a cutter. He had a real sense about, kind of finding open space.”

An Every Man

“And clearly we’re attracted to his ability to shoot the ball, and then you hear that he beat Purdue in the first round (of the 2023 NCAA Tournament). And so there’s that little component, like man, he’s played in big games and all that stuff kind of coming together.”

Almonor has gone from very few minutes a game to a starting role on a team fighting for a top seed of the NCAA Tournament, including every transitional phase in-between, and has kept the same level-headed composure through it all.

Not every transfer find will be a hit like this one, but when you’ve got a coach who knows how to dig and a staff armed with shovels, you’re bound to strike gold now and again, and Ansley Almonor is just that.

Fresh off a last-second win over the Oklahoma Sooners, the Kentucky Wildcats face arguably their toughest opponent of the season: Bruce Pearl and his top-ranked Auburn Tigers.

Auburn will invade Lexington for a 1 PM ET game time Saturday in what is one of the biggest matchups of the season.

Led by National Player of the Year favorite Johni Broome, who began his career at nearby Morehead State, the Tigers are likely getting the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 26-2 record. Those losses came to Duke and Florida, ironically, two teams that Kentucky has beaten.

Playing the No. 1 team at Rupp for just the sixth time in program history is a great way to kick off March, and it will provide Kentucky a litmus test to see where they stand vs. a team that feels bound for a deep March Madness run.

Let’s take a look at what to watch for in the matchup.

Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson

Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson returned to the lineup against Oklahoma after a two-week absence, but neither played more than 20 minutes.

Butler did make his presence felt with seven points and six assists to go with his leadership and defensive pressure. On an even more positive note, he said postgame that he didn’t have any pain throughout the game.

Sadly, that was not the case for Robinson, whose wrist injury did not respond well, explaining why he only played 12 minutes and missed the entire second half. He did manage to chip in seven points on 3/7 shooting with two steals and an assist, so he did have a relatively positive impact in his limited minutes. Just getting that Saturday would be huge vs. an Auburn team that’s likely going to score 80+ points.

Butler seems to be a full go for Auburn, but the team could play it safe with Robinson’s wrist and sit him for another game. That may be the right move to ensure he’s as healthy as possible for the Big Dance.

Free-Throw Shooting

Playing a physical brand of defense, Auburn fouls at a high rate. In fact, in three of their last four games, they have committed at least 22 fouls, and opponents have attempted an average of 26 free throws. That means Kentucky must take advantage of the charity stripe.

Of late, the Cats have done just that, converting 77.9% on their free throws over the last seven games.

Against a team that doesn’t make many mistakes, taking advantage of the ones they do make certainly helps with the chance of an upset.

Push the Pace

Auburn has the most efficient offense in the country, according to KenPom. However, they are not a team that likes to push the pace. With an average offensive possession of 17.2 seconds, they rank 12th of 16 SEC teams and eighth in overall pace.

In the two games they have lost, their opponents have forced Auburn by playing at their pace and have gotten into their legs, making a difference at the end of the game.

While Kentucky can’t match the top ten defense of Duke or Florida, they are capable of beating the Tigers on the boards. With Lamont Butler back at point, they could use the boards to get some runouts and create some explosive plays.

Opposing Players to Watch

G Johni Broome 6-10, 240 lbs

• 18.8 PPG (3rd in SEC)
• 11.0 RPG (1st in SEC)
• 2.5 BPG (1st in SEC)

G Chad Baker-Mazara 6-7, 180 lbs

• 12.7 PPG
• 2.5 APG
• 25 years of age

G Denver Jones 6-4, 205 lbs

• 11.0 PPG
• 2.5 APG
• 43.4% 3P

Kentucky Basketball vs. Auburn Tigers

Time: 1:00 PM ET on March 1st, 2025
Location: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in Lexington, Kentucky
TV Channel: ABC
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Jess Sims will call the fun.
Online Stream: You can stream the game online using ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | AU
Stats to Know: UK | AU
KenPom: UK | AU
Team Sheet: UK | AU

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the back, so check back Friday. EvanMiya is the most optimistic in the Cats’ chances…at just 38.3%. KenPom is the most pessimistic at 33, while. ESPN is at 35.7%, and BartTorvik has it at 34%.

Predictions: EvanMiya has an 82-79 win for Auburn. Haslametrics has it at 85-78 in favor of the Tigers. BartTorvik (87-82) and KenPom (86-81) both project narrow defeats for Kentucky. Auburn has lost just one game in SEC play and looks like the best team in the nation. Kentucky has a chance, especially if Butler and Robinson both play, but I don’t think they pull it off. Auburn, 86-79.

Send us your Kentucky vs. Auburn score predictions in the comments section!

Go CATS!

Also posted on A Sea of Blue.

At the end of the Kentucky-Oklahoma game on Wednesday night, tempers ran high as they often do in close games in the spirit of competition. Not just among players, as was seen with Brandon Garrison and Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore, but also fans.

As the Wildcats were exiting the court to the locker room, an Oklahoma fan was seen throwing a beer can at the players, nearly hitting Garrison.

In response, the Oklahoma Athletic Department released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:

We are aware of an incident that occurred following last night’s men’s basketball contest against Kentucky involving the throwing of a beverage can toward players. We are closely reviewing all available footage and are working to identify involved parties. We are also in communication with the Southeastern Conference. Anyone with information regarding the incident should provide that by emailing [email protected]. The University of Oklahoma does not in any way condone this type of fan behavior and it will not be tolerated. We will take appropriate and necessary action against anyone who conducts themself in such a manner. We apologize to University of Kentucky players, coaches and fans.

Last fall, the SEC threatened to ban fans for a season if they were found to throw trash onto the playing surface or at players, as a result of fans doing so during the Texas-Georiga football game.