The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats welcome in the Missouri Tigers tonight in SEC College Basketball action. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have the Wildcats favored by a massive amount in this contest.
Kentucky has looked amazing at times this season, but also has looked lackluster as well. That's the mark of a good basketball team to overcome the tough times, especially when they are on the road in conference play. The Wildcats looked sluggish at Texas A&M on Saturday, but found a way to win in double overtime despite battling foul trouble and inconsistencies on both sides of the court.
Either way, Kentucky is still undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. Tonight they take on a Missouri team that is just 7-8 on the season and is on the road for the second straight game. Back on Saturday the Tigers dropped a decision to Auburn, a team that isn't very good either — but they have now picked up six wins in their last seven games.
Missouri has lost four of their last six games overall. They don't shoot the ball well, they average less than 67 points per game and they are just 0-2 on the road this season, getting beat up by Oklahoma prior to the loss to Auburn. Playing at Rupp Arena won't help their road record at all as the Wildcats will be looking to make a statement after playing poorly on Saturday. John Calipari has been challenging his team to play more as a unit, but that can be hard when they are making line changes and running multiple options out there as much as they have been this season.
A total of 10 Wildcats average double-digit minutes this season, with eight of them averaging better than 20 minutes a game. Not a single player sees more than 26 minutes on the floor per game, but it hasn't cost them a loss yet this season. Only two Wildcats average double digits in points with Aaron Harrison (11.5 ppg) and Devin Booker (10.7). Five more players average at least 7.5 points per game as well, so offensively the Wildcats have option, although they have not been shooting the basketball very well recently.
Missouri has two guys in double figures per game, led by Johnathan Williams III's 13.7 points while Montaque Gill-Caesar averages 11.5 himself. Both will have to score a ton of points tonight if Missouri is going to have a chance tonight in this one. The Tigers are not a good basketball team and are going to be overmatched in this one tonight. Still, even if they play a mediocre game they should be able to keep it within the spread for this one.
Free Pick: Kentucky 77, Missouri 55
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