College basketball on Monday night and it the the final game of the year as the Connecticut Huskies and the Kentucky Wildcats battle it out for the National Title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game has a start time of 9.10 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Vegas odds have the Wildcats listed as 3 point favorites, while the total sits at 135.
Stat Pack: The Kentucky Wildcats got to the finals by beating Kansas State, Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Cats now stand at 29-10 on the year overall, including an 8-3 mark on neutral courts. Getting to the finals is a big step up for the Cats who lost in the first round of the NIT tournament last year to Robert Morris. The Wildcats are the first team in NCAA Tournament history to win four straight games by five or fewer points. Kentucky averages a healthy 75.3 ppg (63rd) on 45.5% shooting (106th), but they hit just 33.3% of their shots from long range (229th) and just 68.5% from the charity stripe (224th). The offense is led by freshman Julius Randle, who scores 15.1 ppg while also leading the team in rebounding at 10.5 rpg, plus he hits 50.3% of his shots. James Young (14.2 ppg), Aaron Harrison (13.9 ppg) and Andrew Harrison (10.9 ppg) also average in double figures for the Cats. Defensively Kentucky has been solid this year, allowing 66.8 ppg (84th) on 41.1% shooting overall (60th) and 32.2% from long range (69th).
As for the Connecticut Huskies, they took out St Joes, Villanova, Iowa State, Michigan state and Florida to reach the Finals. The wins now have the Huskies at 31-8 on the year and that includes an 11-1 mark on neutral courts for the year. Connecticut will be looking for it's 2nd title in 4 years. The Huskies average a decent 72.1 ppg (135th) on 45.0% shooting (133rd). They also rank 28th in 3 pt shooting (38.9%) and 5th in free throw shooting (77.4%). Shabazz Napier is the leader of this team as he averages 17.9 ppg, while also leading the team in assists (4.9) and he is 2nd in rebounding (5.5). Just 5 players on the team average 6.1 ppg or more, so this is not a very deep team. DeAndre Daniels (13.0 ppg) and Ryan Boatright (12.0 ppg) are the only other DD scorers on the team, while Daniels also leads them in rebounding at 6.0 rpg. Defensively this is a very solid team that ranks 36th in points allowed (63.5 ppg) and 13th in defensive FG% (39.2%). The Huskies (7-1) own the best winning percentage in the Final Four for any school with a minimum of three games played.
Pick: I like Kentucky in this game. The Surprise in the tournament is UConn, but I think their good fortune runs out in this one. The Cats have really played well down the stretch as their young team has gelled and I also have to give the edge to Calipari over Ollie in the coaching matchup. The loss of Stein has not hurt the cats and I don't expect it to here either. Marcus lee has been a solid replacement and I look for him to have another big game here. UConn is solid on defense, but I just don't see their offense producing enough points to keep this one within the number. I look for the cats to pull away in the last 5 minutes as they wear down a UConn team that is not very deep. Cats by 7+ here.
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