NCAA Basketball Matchup: Florida vs Kentucky
The best of the SEC will be on center stage Tuesday night when Florida travels to take on Kentucky.
NCAAB Gambling: Gators vs. Wildcats
7:00 PM EST
College Basketball Gambling Odds from Bookmaker
NCAA Basketball Betting Favorite: Kentucky -9.5
Over/Under: 142
It is the number seven team in the nation against the top team in the land. These two teams have had some great battles over the last few years. The athleticism on the floor Tuesday night in Lexington will be amazing. Expect some major highlights from this matchup.
Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators are stacked with talent in the backcourt. The team already had Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker from last year’s squad, but they added another star in Bradley Beal. Beal was one of the top high school players in the country last year, and he has stepped in and provided a big boost for the team right away. Beal averages 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds from his guard spot.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Boynton leads the team with 17.6 points per game, and he also shoots 43.8% from beyond the arc. Patric Young and Erik Murphy are the main men in the post. Florida is ninth in the nation in points per game at 80.1.
Kentucky is loaded with young talent yet again. By most accounts, this is a better team than last year’s squad that got to the Final Four.
Anthony Davis is the all-around star for this team as a freshman. Davis will almost certainly win the Defensive Player of the Year award nationally. He leads the nation with 114 blocks already this year. He also averages 13.9 points and 10.2 boards per game. Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb are “veterans” on this team as sophomores.
Lamb is the team’s best outside shooter, and Jones is a versatile forward who can carry a team through stretches of the game. The secret to Kentucky’s success is their great half court defense. The Wildcats lead the nation in field goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting just 35.6% from the floor.
Florida has some play makers in the backcourt, but they’ll have a hard time getting into the lane Tuesday night. Look for the Wildcats defense to be the difference here.
Prediction: Kentucky 77 Florida 65
