Wildcats vs Gators CBB Basketball Spread/Handicapping
You just knew that Kentucky was going to become a more dangerous team as the year went on. It has been a staple of Coach Cal’s teams even, if this particular version struggled a little more early on than many expected.
#25 Kentucky Wildcats (17-6) vs #7 Florida Gators (19-3)
Tuesday February 12
Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL
7:00PM
Moneyline: No ML currently listed at Bovada
Spread: Florida -9.5
O/U: 135
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
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Kentucky
The truth is that the talent on this team is enough to beat any team in the country. They are far from perfect, but if they play to their potential they are a threat. Some nights that is a bigger if than others though.
Center Nerlens Noel is a fantastic defensive player who has shown he can impact a game without scoring all that much. He will need to control the middle for Kentucky to have a shot and get scoring help from Kyle Witjer, Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin.
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Not to be overlooked is the play of point guard Ryan Harrow. If they are going to beat good teams he has to play well and control the action out there.
Kentucky is just 2-2 ATS when they are an underdog but I still get a strong itch to back them when they are in this role. To me it always seems like good value and in their last tough road tilt they won going away at Ole Miss. Florida is a whole other animal as they are going to need a more complete game to even cover.
Florida
The Gators lost on the road at Arkansas last week. [ad-6571516]
It was a surprise given the way they had been dominating in SEC play and it adds extra juice to this game as another loss will leave them tied for the league lead with Kentucky with a visit to Lexington to close the season. The Gators need to defend their homecourt to restore their confidence and position at the top of the SEC standings.
Other than that loss no game has been closer than 14 points this year. The Gators have a dynamic offensive attack led by guard Kenny Boynton – who is actually not having a good senior season despite the team’s success. If things continue as they have he will post the lowest scoring average of his career at Florida, hard to believe given his prep hype. It will be fun to see Erik Murphy and Wiltjer go head-to-head. They are very similar players who prefer to bomb from the perimeter.
Florida has yet to lose at home this season and is 5-3 ATS in Gainesville. A perfect conference run might have been unrealistic so perhaps it was a wakeup call for the Gators. They have lots of talent and probably a better mix of it than UK. The definitely have more experience that Kentucky which should show at home.
Spread Pick: Kentucky
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Florida 70 – Kentucky 62
