K-State vs Kentucky Gambling Lines
The ninth-seeded Kansas State Wildcats and the eighth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats will tip off in Midwest Region play in the late game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. [ad-4468020]
2014 NCAA Tournament Free Picks
Midwest Region – 2nd Round
9 Kansas State Wildcats (20-12) at 8 Kentucky Wildcats (24-10)
Date: Friday, March 21, 2014
Time: 9:40 PM ET
Venue: Scottrade Center
City: St. Louis, Missouri
O/U Odds: 132.5
Spread: Kentucky -5
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Matchup Stats | ATS Insider Preview
Kansas State cost itself a shot at a higher seed by getting bumped by eventual tournament winner Iowa State in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament, while Kentucky has never been able to live up to its lofty preseason expectations, and even pushing Florida to the brink in the SEC tournament wasn’t enough to earn the team a higher seed.
The eight-seed is the lowest assigned to a John Calipari coached team in the entirety of his time coaching collegiate basketball.
*CLICK HERE* GRAB OUR BEST Expert CBB Picks for 2014 GAMBLING season!
The team would surely be seeded significantly higher if they were able to complete their comeback against Florida in the SEC title game. Kentucky trailed that game 54-39 with 10:48 to play, but outscored the Gators 21-7 the rest of the way, falling just short in the end in a narrow 61-60 loss.
The loss certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort from big-man Willie Cauley-Stein, who filled out his stat sheet with 10 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks, two steals, and an assist.
[ad-6571516]
Julius Randle didn’t every have it going from the field in that one, scoring just four points on 1-of-7 shooting, though he did rack up seven rebounds, two blocks, an assist, and a steal.
As for Kansas State, they bring an 0-8 all-time record against Kentucky into this matchup. If the team hopes to turn that around, they’ll need a strong performance from freshman guard Marcus Foster, who averages 15.6 points per game while shooting better than 40 percent from the field, and from beyond the arc. The team’s defense will need to come up big as well.
Kansas State finished second in the Big 12 in scoring defense, surrendering just 63.7 points per game.
The winner of this game moves on to face top-seed Wichita State in the round of 32, barring the first upset in the history of the 1-16 matchup. The winner of that game will earn a trip to the Sweet 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Kentucky brings plenty of name value into this tournament, with its prominent head coach, its star freshman, and the history of the program itself, all leading to uninformed bettors blindly riding with the white and blue UK. That’s no reason to put money down.
Kentucky faced a relatively soft schedule this season, and could be in tough against a battle-tested Kansas State squad that won better than half of its games in the far superior Big 12.
Kansas State is 4-1 ATS in its last five games against SEC opponents.
The play: Kansas State +5
