Texas Longhorns vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 1/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Texas Longhorns vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: SEC Network

The Texas Longhorns (11-7) are en route to Rupp Arena on Wednesday where they will take on the Kentucky Wildcats (12-6).

The Texas Longhorns faced Texas A&M and ended up losing by a score of 74-70 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Longhorns finished with 16 while Texas A&M racked up 22 personal fouls. They converted 8 of their 20 shots from beyond the arc. Texas A&M finished 63.2% from the free throw line by making 12 of their 19 tries. In addition, Texas A&M had 27 rebounds (4 offensive, 23 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Texas A&M earned 14 assists and had 5 steals in this matchup. When it comes to defense, Texas let their opponent shoot 50.9% from the floor on 27 out of 53 shooting. They also doled out 10 assists for this game in addition to forcing 5 turnovers and getting 4 steals. When it comes to grabbing boards, they compiled a total of 34 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Longhorns converted 20 of 26 attempts for a rate of 76.9%. Texas ended with a 41.5% field goal percentage (22 out of 53) and made 6 out of their 21 3-point attempts.

Dailyn Swain is a guy who came through for the matchup. He finished 54.5% from the floor but wasn't able to get a dime. He played 37 mins played and also snagged 6 rebounds. He finished with 17 points on 6 out of 11 shooting.

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Texas enters this one with a record of 11-7 for the season. They are giving up possession 11.4 times per game and as a team they are committing 19.5 fouls per game. As a team, Texas is grabbing 41.2 boards per contest and has 237 dimes for the campaign, which is 270th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. The Longhorns are shooting 34.5% on shots from beyond the arc (142 of 411) and 73.0% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 86.3 points per contest (29th in the country) while going 48.5% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Longhorns are forcing 10.8 turnovers every game and they draw 22.7 personal fouls. They are surrendering 35.3% on three-point shots while they are 207th in college in points per game allowed (74.4). The Longhorns defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 42.7% (458 of 1,072) and they surrender 31.0 rebounds per contest as a team. They rank 59th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 214 relinquished for the year.

The last time they took the court, the Kentucky Wildcats got the victory with a final of 80-78 when they faced Tennessee. With respect to cleaning up the glass, Kentucky allowed Tennessee to grab 29 in total (12 on the offensive side). They finished 42.1% from beyond the perimeter by going 8 out of 19 and ended up going 20 out of 29 from the free throw line (69.0%). The Wildcats allowed Tennessee to make 25 of 53 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 47.2% in this game. When the final whistle blew, the Wildcats ended up shooting 28 out of 59 from the floor which gave them a rate of 47.5%. In relation to three-point shots, Kentucky made 11 out of their 24 tries (45.8%). They were able to knock down 13 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 61.9%. Tennessee earned 19 fouls for the contest which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 21 shots. They also coughed it up 8 times, while recording 8 steals in this game. The Wildcats recorded 14 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards for a total of 24 for the contest.

Denzel Aberdeen ended up being a major contributor for the Wildcats for this game. He recorded 22 points in his 29 mins on the hardwood and totaled 2 assists for the matchup. He buried 7 of 11 in this contest for a rate of 63.6%, but wasn't able to snag a rebound.

Kentucky has a record of 12-6 this year. As an offensive unit, the Wildcats are hitting on 48.1% from the floor, which ranks 55th in the country. Kentucky has scored 1,493 pts for the season (82.9 per game) and they pull in 38.1 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 17.3 times per game (43rd in the country) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.3 times per game. The Wildcats commit 17.2 personal fouls per contest and they go 72.6% from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats are ranked 94th in the nation in points allowed per contest with 70.2. They are able to force 11.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.6% from the floor (72nd in college hoops). The Kentucky defense surrenders 30.9% on 3-pointers (133 of 431) and their opposition knocks down 73.5% of their free throw shots. They allow 14.7 assists and 32.8 boards per contest, which ranks them 276th and 85th in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kentucky

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