No. 5 Kentucky is unbeaten no more. The Wildcats were upended on Thursday by the UCLA Bruins, snapping their 40-game win streak against unranked opponents. They’ll immediately get their chance to start another impressive run as they host unranked Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels, though, can score with the best of them, and could give the Wildcats defense a run for its money.
Read on below for more on this in-state showdown. And for more Wednesday hoops action, check out our NBA preview of the Spurs vs. Raptors.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Eastern Kentucky Colonels vs. Kentucky Wildcats Preview
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
When: Wednesday, December 9, 10:00 PM ET
Line: Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Kentucky Wildcats – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN2
Betting on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (7-2)
If there’s one thing Eastern Kentucky knows how to do, it’s putting the ball in the basket. With head coach Dan McHale in his first year at the helm, the Colonels have transformed into a very dangerous offensive team.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]They are currently No. 6 in the country in scoring (90.4 points per game), and are led by the terrific backcourt tandem of senior Jarelle Reischel (19.7 PPG) and junior Javontae Hawkins (18.8 PPG). Reischel had 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists last time out, but the rest of the Colonels could only contribute 50 points in a close 74-71 win over Savannah State on Saturday.
As good as the Colonels have been on offense, they have been equally as bad on defense. They’re 320th out of 351 teams in the nation in scoring defense, giving up a shade under 81 points per game.
They don’t stand much of a chance of containing Kentucky’s insanely athletic and talented team – few teams in the country do – but a team that shoots as well from beyond the arc as the Colonels at least has a shot at keeping it reasonably close. Eastern Kentucky is No. 5 in the nation in three-point accuracy at 44 percent.
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Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats (7-1)
The Kentucky Wildcats will be on a mission on Wednesday to bounce back after they were knocked off their perch as the No. 1 team in the nation by UCLA, 87-77. It was Kentucky’s first regular season loss since March 8, 2014 at Florida.
Just about everything went wrong for the Wildcats on the night. Their defense failed them as they allowed a season-high 87 points on 53 percent shooting; they shot a season-low 38 percent, including 27 percent from outside the paint; they lost starting forward Marcus Lee early with a head injury; and their remaining big men were mired in foul trouble.
It won’t be a surprise to see Lee sit out against Eastern Kentucky as a precaution. But the Wildcats should have more than enough to cope even without their starting big.
The defense should bounce back after an off-night against the Bruins. Freshman guards Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe have the size and length to contain Eastern Kentucky’s two big offensive threats on defense, and will also make them work very hard on the other end of the floor.
Kentucky is a perfect 6-0 all-time against Eastern Kentucky and resoundingly beat the Colonels 82-49 in last year’s meeting.
Writer’s Prediction
Kentucky comes back with a vengeance and beat up on Eastern Kentucky by more than 25 points.
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