NCAA basketball on Thursday night and we will see the Arkansas Razorbacks travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Vegas odds have the Wildcats listed as 10.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 150.
Analysis: The Arkansas Razorbacks come in at 18-9 overall and 7-7 in SEC. They have been on a roll lately as they have won 5 of their last 6 games and they did beat Kentucky earlier in the year at home, 87-85 in OT. The Razorbacks are a very good offensive team, scoring 80.1 ppg, which ranks 20th in the nation. they are an uptempo team, meaning they take allot of shots and it shows in their FG%, which is just 44.6%, to rank 150th in the nation. Bobby Portis leads the offense with 13.1 ppg, while Rashad Madden (12.7) and Michael Qualls (11.9 ppg) also average in double figures for the Razorbacks. Defensively the Razorbacks have allowed 70.5 ppg, but on just 40.6% shooting, which is 53rd in the nation.
The Wildcats come in at 21-6 overall and have won 13 of their last 16 games. They are also 15-1 at home and 11-3 in the SEC this year. The Cats have been a solid offensive team all year as they average 78.2 pg (36th) on 46.8% shooting (61st) the do struggle at the FT line, hitting just 68.5% of their freebies (221st) and they also struggle from deep, hitting just 32.2% of their treys (280th). 4 players average in double figures for the Cats, led by freshman Julius Randle, who scores 15.7 ppg, while also leading the team in rebounding at 10.3 rpg. James Young (14.6 ppg), Aaron Harrison (13.8 ppg) and Andrew Harrison (11.7 ppg) round out the double digit scorers for the Cats. Defensively, Kentucky is very good as they have allowed just 66.9 ppg (90th) on 39.6% shooting (25th).
Pick: Gonna go with the Under here. Arkansas is not a great scoring team on the road. They do average 71 ppg on the road, but the Cats have allowed just 63.3 ppg at home and 66 ppg in their last 5 games overall. Kentucky has averaged 80.1 ppg at home overall this year, but just 71.5 (Regulation) in their last 6 SEC home games and Arkansas comes in having played good defense of late, allowing just 70.3 ppg in their last 6 games. The first matchup put up 172 points, but 148 in regulation. This one won't hit that mark. I say low 140's at best.
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