There’s heavyweight battle tonight in Lexington as the No. 6 Texas Longhorns put their unblemished record on the line against fellow undefeated and No. 1 team Kentucky Wildcats. This game will also feature a raft of talented young players who are projected to be first-rounders in next year’s NBA Draft. And later tonight, the pros are in action as the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks lock horns in an interesting matchup between two high-scoring teams.
Click here for an in-depth preview of Longhorns vs. Wildcats and here for Suns vs. Mavericks.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]
Texas Longhorns vs. Kentucky Wildcats (7:00 PM ET)
Line: Texas Longhorns (+11.5) at Kentucky Wildcats (-11.5) – view all NCAAB lines
[sc:NBA240banner ]The Longhorns are coming off a 63-53 victory over the UT-Arlington Mavericks last Tuesday to improve to 7-0 thus far this season. The Wildcats, meanwhile, cakewalked their way to a 58-38 win over the Providence Friars last November 30th. Despite the win, the Longhorns clearly had a hard time against UT-Arlington as they shot just 30.0% (20-55) from the field and fell short of their 72.6 PPG average.
Texas’ shooting in that game doesn’t bode well for the Longhorns who are about to face Kentucky’s top-rated defense that allows opposing teams to score just 44.6 PPG. Texas’ rebounding, however, could give John Calipari’s crews fits as the Longhorns are fifth in the nation with 44.9 RPG. The Wildcats, on the other hand grabs just 27.9 boards per outing. The Longhorns are 2-0 ATS in their last two games as the road team.
Writer’s Prediction
Kentucky wins, 61-54.
Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks (8:30 PM ET)
Line: Phoenix Suns (+5.5) at Dallas Mavericks (-5.5); total: 214.5 – view all NBA lines
With Dirk Nowitzki back in the lineup tonight, the high-scoring Mavericks look to keep their winning streak alive when they play the hot-shooting Suns for the first of their scheduled four games this season.
The Mavericks, who are the owners of the best scoring average in the league with 110.2 PPG, extended their win streak to five games after Monta Ellis sank a buzzer-beating jumper to give Dallas a 107-105 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks last Wednesday.
The Suns (105.1 PPG), on the other hand, returned to the win column following back-to-back defeats by upending the Indiana Pacers last Tuesday, 116-99.
