The Kentucky Wildcats will aim to defend their amazing home winning streak against the Arkansas Razorbacks tonight in SEC action. Find out why we have placed our NCAA basketball picks on this game's total.
The Kentucky Wildcats are 44-0 at home under John Calipari but they are also one of the worst ATS sports betting teams in the nation. That’s leaves bettors in a bit
of a quandary as they consider a play on the Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks
contest tonight at Rupp Arena.
Sportsbooks opened with Kentucky
favored by 17.5 points, but early sports betting action has lovered the spread to 16.5 at most shops. The total is set at 147.
The second-ranked Wildcats (17-1 SU, 3-13-1 ATS) have
won nine straight overall including a narrow 65-62 win at Tennessee in their
last outing on Saturday. They’ll be home for the first time January 7 when they
slammed South Carolina 79-64 in their SEC opener.
Arkansas (13-4 SU, 4-5-0 ATS) bounced back from its
first conference loss with Saturday's 69-60 home win over LSU. Three Razorbacks
scored in double figures, lead by freshman guard B.J. Young who had a team-high
19 points. Julysses Nobles added 15 points while Mardracus Wade chipped in with
14. Arkansas made 9 of 18 shots from beyond the arc and forced 16 turnovers.
Freshman Hunter Mickelson was also a force for the Razorbacks with seven
blocked shots.
SEC
race
The Razorbacks are currently tied for third in the
Southeastern Conference with their 2-1 league record, just a half-game behind
co-leaders Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Arkansas is tied with Alabama, Florida and Mississippi State at 2-1 as
exactly half the conference is above .500 in league play. Overall, Arkansas is one of six league teams
to have 13 wins with 10 of the 12 league schools have a winning record.
Young
Gun’s
Kentucky is a perfect 3-0 in Southeastern Conference
play including a pair of road victories. The Wildcats have four players scoring in double figures, including
Anthony Davis who might be the best defender in the country. He’s a 6-11 shot
blocking phenom who has 82 rejections this year (4.4 per game average) and is
averaging 13.1 points. Davis leads the team in shooting (64 percent) and
rebounding (10.2 rpg). Doron Lamb is
Wildcats leading scorer at 14.0 points per contest followed by Michael
Kidd-Gilchrist (13.4 ppg), Davis, Terrence Jones (11.7 ppg) and Marquis Teague
(10.7 ppg).
Kentucky is second in the SEC in scoring (79.3)
while Arkansas is third at 76.9. The Wildcats are shooting an impressive 48.3
percent from the ?oor and are out-rebounding their opponents by 7.7 rebounds
per game.
Razorbacks
on the road
Arkansas has dropped eight straight at Rupp Arena
and is 0-3 on the road this season shooting just 34.7 percent. However despite
the shortcomings away from home, they’re off to their best start in four years
under first-year head coach Mike Anderson.
The Razorback bench has been one of the team’s strengths
this season. When Arkansas’ sixth man—and beyond-- outscores its opponents, the
Hogs are 11-3. The reserves are averaging 33.3 points per game this year, 10
points per game more than Arkansas’ opponents.
The
series
The Razorbacks beat Kentucky four times over their ?rst
seven meetings between 1992 and 1995, but overall it has been a series
dominated by the Wildcats who own a 24-8 advantage. The Razorbacks ended a
10-game losing streak to Kentucky last season at Bud Walton Arena, 77-76.
However, Arkansas is just 2-11 in Kentucky with their last victory coming nearly
10 years ago.
The last time that Arkansas played in Lexington was
Jan. 23, 2010, when they lost to the Wildcats 101-70. Arkansas struggled from
the ?oor, hitting just 30 percent of its shots including a disappointing 18
percent from three. Kentucky was led by
Darius Miller who scored 18 points with current NBA players John Wall, Demarcus
Cousins and Eric Bledsoe scoring 16, 16 and 10, respectively.
Harvey’s Take: You’ll probably see this Kentucky team in the Final
Four but you won’t find them in my NCAA basketball picks unless it’s a play on the
‘under’. Tonight’s matchup has two teams that aren’t afraid of playing a little
defense. First team to 70 wins.
P.S. Kentucky is 0-10-1 ATS in its last 11 home games.
Take the ‘under’ and good luck!