Indiana will be coming into Rupp Arena with its star coming off a historic game

A familiar name for Kentucky fans from this past offseason just had a historic night. Remember Lamar Wilkerson, who flipped to Indiana in a flash and shocked Big Blue Nation? Well, he just had a historic night for the Indiana Hoosiers, who, coincidentally, head to Rupp Arena on Saturday to take on the Wildcats as the old border state rivalry returns as part of a home-and-home series.

This might pain fans to hear, but Wilkerson set an Indiana program record for made threes in the game, as he drained 10 threes on 44 points on the way to leading the Hoosers to a 113-72 win over Penn State in Assembly Hall. Wilkerson didn't just set a program record, he is also the first player since 2021 to have 44 points along with 10 threes in a single game. Had enough? He also is the first player, college or NBA, in the last 30 seasons to have that stat line while playing less than 25 minutes. Wilkerson played 24 minutes in their blowout win.

That is terrible timing if you're a Kentucky fan, because Indiana dropped out of the top 25 this week after losing on the road to a 5-4 Minnesota team who has losses to teams like San Fransisco, Stanford, and Santa Clara. They followed it up by having another struggling loss against #6 Louisville in what was technically a neutral site game, but the crowd was filled with Hoosier fans. They certainly had their own version of a feel-good win after dominating Penn State last night, and now, they'll come into Rupp Arena ready to prove a point after their recent struggles.

Wilkerson's performance wasn't just any other performance. It was a historic one, and now he'll try and carry it over into their game against Kentucky on Saturday, a team that was heavily involved in his recruitment. You know he'll be motivated to have another impressive performance, and with how Kentucky's effort has been lately on defense, that could spell trouble. Even if it's not close to the performance he had on Tuesday, Wilkerson is still going to be a huge handful for Kentucky to try and contain.

Is Kentucky up for a classic shootout on Saturday? We'll see, but that also requires the Wildcats do handle being competitive against a quality opponent, which by now Kentucky fans don't need another reminder about. A must-win matchup awaits in Rupp Arena.