No.4 Kentucky is heading into Friday’s SEC Tournament game after winning their last two, after they stumbled hard against the No.8 ranked Tennessee on March 2, which has some question their ability to beat AP ranked squads. Still, they are solid favorites in this one against Alabama, and have decent +1000 odds to win the 2019 National Championship. The Crimson Tide are just +50,000 to win it all.
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Betting Preview for the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Kentucky Wildcats College Basketball Game on March 15, 2019
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
When: Friday, March 15, 2019, 12:30 PM ET
Line: Alabama Crimson Tide (odds) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Alabama Crimson Tide (18-14 Overall / 8-10 Conference)
Ole Miss controlled the first half of the game against Alabama on Thursday, outscoring the Crimson Tide 38-24, but let the commanding lead slip as the minutes progressed and around the 12-minute mark Alabama was up for the very first time. The game was tied 57-57 with just over one minute left, and Alabama remained composed and closed to win 62-57, outscoring the Rebels 38-19 in the second half.
The problem, is that this sort of single-half play won’t fly against the No.4 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. They need to put together an impressive 40 minutes if they expect to progress through the tournament, starting with this Friday meeting.
In January, Alabama did just that in a surprising 77-75 win against Kentucky. Of course, back then they had equal 10-3 records. Crimson guard Tevin Mack was the high scorer for his team on the day, hitting for 22 points. Alabama boasted 43.5% from 3-point land, and out-rebounded UK 40-32. If they didn’t give up 17 turnovers the spread would have been greater.
In the SEC this season, is 12-8-1 against the spread (ATS) overall, and 7-10 ATS after a win, covering just 41.2% of the time.
Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats (26-5 Overall / 15-3 Conference)
Kentucky is coming off of a 66-57 win against the Florida Gators on Saturday. It was a shaky start, with the Gators leading 31-30 into the second half until they closed out 36-26 in the final 20 minutes. Four players scored in double-digits, led by guard Tyler Herro’s 16-points. UK went 41.1% from the field, but floundered from the 3-point line with just 28.6% from behind the arc.
The last time UK played Alabama, the Crimson Tide had greater aspirations and didn’t know they weren’t supposed to beat Kentucky, so they did. But it had a lot do to with bad 3-point shooting from the Wildcats, hitting only 27.8% from beyond the arc. That, and their highest scorer that day was PJ Washington with just 15 points.
Kentucky is averaging 76.8 ppg and 38.5 rebounds per game, while allowing 65.2 ppg. In the SEC this season, UK is 16-15 ATS, and 14-11 ATS after a win, covering 56% of the time.
Writer’s Prediction
While it feels like anything can happen in this game, it won’t. Alabama used up their gas in the second half of their Thursday game against Ole Miss. Kentucky gets revenge and wins, 75-69.
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