Analytics rank Kentucky's five most valuable players ahead of the NCAA Tournament

This Kentucky basketball season has flown by, as there are only seven games left before the postseason gets started in year two of the Mark Pope era. Despite a rough start to the season, Pope’s Wildcats are playing good ball when it matters the most, which is good because a tough stretch of games is coming up to finish the season.

We are deep enough into the season to start taking a good look at analytics and be able to have some takeaways, and the EvanMiya.com stats on this Kentucky team are very interesting. Let’s take a look at the top five Wildcats in these rankings.

Top five most valuable Kentucky players according to EvanMiya.com

1 Otega Oweh

2 Malachi Moreno

3 Mo Dioubate

4 Kam Williams

5 Collin Chandler

It is interesting to see Moreno as the second most valuable player on this basketball team, but it makes a lot of sense knowing how he has locked down the five for the Wildcats. It is a bit of a surprise that analytics love Mo D so much, but his rebounding is definitely valuable to this basketball team, especially with his two game sealing rebounds in the two wins over Tennessee.

Feb 4, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats center Malachi Moreno (24) shoots a free throw during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Most members of Big Blue Nation are likely somewhat shocked that Chandler is not higher on this list, but if he keeps playing the way he has over the last few weeks, he will likely be right behind Oweh as the second most valuable player on this team.

These rankings have Denzel Aberdeen as the sixth most valuable player on this team, which is a tad bit surprising because he, without question, should be higher than this. With Jaland Lowe out for the season, Aberdeen has stepped up in a big way to play out of position at the one. Aberdeen will need to be excellent against his old team on Saturday when the Wildcats take on the Gators.

Another player who was super low on this list was Andrija Jelavic. EvanMiya.com has been very vocal about not liking the game of Jelavic, but this is one he will be wrong about. Jelavic is going to come into his own if he stays at Kentucky. BBN needs to hope that he stays out of the transfer portal.

Lastly, Kam Williams being on this list shows just how valuable he will be for this team. If Williams is back in Lexington next season when he is fully healthy, he will be a star for Pope’s Wildcats.