A 4-14 conference record isn’t exactly the kind of idea Bruce Pearl had in mind when he arrived in Auburn with grand dreams of turning the Tigers into contenders. However, Auburn is looking like a team on a mission of late as the Tigers remain alive in the SEC Tournament as a No. 13 seed. Will the Tigers’ Cinderella-run in the tourney continue by pulling off an earth-shaking victory over the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday?
Read on below for a detailed preview of this game. You can also click here for our preview and prediction of the Big Ten semifinal between Purdue and Wisconsin.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Auburn Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
When: Saturday, March 14, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Auburn Tigers (+23) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (-23) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Auburn Tigers
How about them Tigers? For most of the regular season, Bruce Pearl’s team was an afterthought in the SEC, winning just four games in conference play. But powered by the lethal scoring of KT Harrell, Auburn is turning out to be the Cinderella in the tournament. The team has won three straight games as a No. 13 seed, including Friday’s 73-70 overtime win over the LSU Tigers.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Harrell—Auburn’s leading scorer with 18.4 points per game—has been on fire since the start of the tourney, averaging 23.3 points in three tourney games. He scored 29 points in the LSU game and has 10 three-pointers thus far in the tournament.
But as good as Harrell has been over the last few days, he’ll likely see his numbers go down against Kentucky’s defense that ranks second overall in the nation with only 53.4 points allowed per game. Harrell will need Antoine Mason to break out of his slump and get his scoring going. Mason is the team’s second leading scorer with 14.3 points per game, but has only 18 total points over the past three Auburn games. That being said, Mason seems to have the chops to put up a big game opposite Kentucky, as he scored 29 points in Auburn’s 110-75 loss to the ‘Cats on February 21.
Auburn is 5-0 ATS in its last five games overall.
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Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky once again flexed its muscle by taking down Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators on Friday, 64-49, to advance to the semis of the conference tournament. It was the Wildcats’ 32nd-consecutive win this season. With the pesky Gators now out of the way, Kentucky will set its sight on dealing with another challenger in the form of the Auburn Tigers.
Based on the Wildcats’ crushing victory over Auburn back in February, it looks like this is going to be another walk in the park for them. In that game, six Kentucky players scored in double figures with Karl-Anthony Towns pacing the team with 19 points. Aaron and Andrew Harrison chipped in 18 and 12 points, respectively. Dakari Johnson, Dominique Hawkins, and Devin Booker, meanwhile, all came off the bench and finished the game with 13, 10 and 11 points respectively.
With a deep and talented roster like that, Auburn will find it very hard to hang with Kentucky for an entire game.
Kentucky’s offense is averaging 74.6 points per game and when adjusted for efficiency, is putting up 118.6 points per 100 possessions.
On defense, the Wildcats will have to make a few adjustments to prevent Harrell and Mason from sparking Auburn’s offense. The tools are there for Kentucky to do just that with Karl-Anthony Towns (2.4 BPG) and Willie Cauley-Stein (1.6 BPG) protecting the rim and a bunch of lengthy perimeter players, who can all play in-your-face defense.
Since 2007, Kentucky is 10-0 SU in its last 10 meetings with Auburn.
Writer’s Prediction
Kentucky (-23) wins, 98-75.
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