How to watch the Kentucky Wildcats take on LSU in Baton Rouge

How Kentucky basketball fans can watch their Wildcats face the LSU Tigers on Wednesday.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope yells during game against the Missouri Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

After picking up their first SEC win of the season on Saturday in a feel-good 24-point win over Mississippi State, Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats are hitting the road to take on the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night, and they're looking to carry over their impressive performance.

They'll get to do so once again without Jaland Lowe, who is out for the season, and Jayden Quaintance, who will miss his second-straight game due to knee swelling, which is typical for someone who is coming off of an ACL injury like he is. Against Mississippi State, Kentucky showed improvement in their half-court offense, which every fan knows has been a major struggle. The Wildcats showed what can happen when they put it all together. They didn't have to rely strictly on transition offense, because their ball-movement in the half-court was terrific, and it all comes down to playing unselfish, moving off the ball, and cutting, which then creates that space that great offenses feed off of. Mark Pope has talked about just how much his best teams have showed great half-court offense, and this team finally showed glimpses of it. This game is going to be a unique Quad 1 opportunity for the Wildcats, as LSU is currently #44 in the NET rankings, which qualifies for a resume boosting game on the road. The reason that this is unique? LSU looks like a completely different team without star guard Dedan Thomas, who is not only their leading scorer at 16.2 points per game, including dishing out 7.1 assists.

LSU has started SEC play 0-3, including a 10-point loss to South Carolina at home, who is currently the worst team in the conference, and are coming off of a 84-73 loss at Vandy. Before that, when Thomas was healthy, the Tigers picked up a Quad 1 win against SMU on Dec. 13, defeating the Mustangs 89-77. Now, they're looking to get a much-needed in their home arena, while Kentucky is looking to take advantage of a Quad 1 opportunity against an exploitable LSU team without their star player, but guard Max Mackinnon has stepped up lately, coming off a 27-point outing at Vandy, helping the Tigers keep it close. Let's take a look at how to watch Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats take on the LSU Tigers on Wednesday.

How to watch Kentucky take on the LSU Tigers

The Wildcats will take on the Tigers at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, and you can watch the game on SEC Network. You may also listen on the UK Sports Network.

Kentucky Wildcats guard Denzel Aberdeen (1) defends Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Keys to victory for Kentucky against LSU

Win the turnover battle

Turnovers is one of the most exploitable areas when playing the Tigers without their star guard Dedan Thomas. He has been out since SEC play started, and LSU is now 0-3 in the conference, even falling to South Carolina by 10 points. In each of their losses, turnovers have killed them. In their three SEC games, the Tigers have had turnover splits of 16-14-14. With how well Kentucky has been able to score off of turnovers and get out in transition as a result of a very disruptive defense, this will be an area that they need to take advantage.

Force LSU to shoot

The Tigers are not only one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, but they also get a very small percentage of their points from deep, as just 24 percent (330th nationally) of their points come from there, with 54 percent (84th nationally) of points coming from inside the arc. They are 209th in three-point percentage at 33.2 percent. That's the style LSU loves to play, but despite that, there still is some weapons of note on the perimeter for them, with guard Max Mackinnon, who is coming off a 27-point game against Vandy, where he shot 3-6 from deep. He has really began stepping up as their go-to scorer with star guard Dedan Thomas out to start conference play, because they have really needed someone to do so.

Continue producing in half-court offense

Kentucky fans have been used to their team not executing in the half-court on offense, but that changed in a surprising way on Saturday. Mark Pope needs to continue the rotations he played in the previous game, too, putting Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavic in to take advantage of the spacing they were able to create, thanks to much better ball-movement combined with off-ball cutting and screening. It really helped spread the offense out, and if they can continue creating as well as they were able to on Saturday, that will bode well. They are already elite at creating off turnovers, and fans saw against Mississippi State what they can be when everything is clicking. The Wildcats will be tested, though, as LSU ranks 30th in blocks and 22nd in two-point percentage defense. It may be a game where, if they can find it, the spacing could pay off.

LSU is looking to right the ship without their star player, with guys continuing to step up in his absence, and Kentucky will look to pick up a Quad 1 opportunity. Both teams have plenty on the line heading into Wednesday's matchup.