LSU Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats Predictions, Picks, Odds and NCAA Basketball Betting Preview – February 7, 2017

LSU Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats Preview

Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington

When: Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 PM ET

Line: LSU Tigers (+25) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (-25); total: 171.5 – view all NCAAB lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

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Betting on the LSU Tigers (9-13, 1-9 SEC)

Point Spread: +25

Oh how the Tigers miss Ben Simmons right now. LSU has been a dumpster on fire lately, as it is riding a nine-game losing streak. The team is coming off an 85-73 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, a game that highlighted some of the flaws of LSU.

While the Tigers shot a decent 45.6 percent from the field and went 8-for-18 from deep, they turned the ball over 17 times. Their defense was bad too against the Aggies with LSU committing 21 fouls, leading to Texas A&M taking 26 free throw attempts as against to the Tigers’ 13.

The Tigers have allowed 83.3 points in the last three games with opponents shooting 47.7% during that stretch.

Kentucky’s going to be more than a handful for LSU’s defense. If the Tigers could find their shots to fall in on the other side of the ball, they might just find some extra energy to make a stand against Kentucky’s bevy of skilled scorers. Antonio Blakeney only had seven points on a salty 3-of-11 shooting night against Texas A&M. The Tigers need Blakeney’s scoring production if they were to make Kentucky sweat. Blakeney leads the team with 15.6 PPG.

LSU (scores 74.6 PPG) is 4-1 ATS in its last five road games.

Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats (18-5, 8-2 SEC)

Point Spread: -25

John Calipari is certainly unhappy with the way his Wildcats have fared recently. The Wildcats have lost three of their past four games, including an 88-66 setback at the hands of Florida on Saturday.

Kentucky, however, should be able to pick the pieces up against a going-nowhere LSU squad that the Wildcats have dominated in recent matches. The Wildcats are 8-2 in their last 10 meetings with LSU. They defeated Ben Simmons and company last year, 94-77.

Malik Monk is expected to power the offense of Kentucky, which is third in Division I with 90.2 PPG. Monk scored just 11 points against Florida, but he’s certainly capable of dropping the hammer hard on LSU’s defense that ranks just 334th in the nation, allowing 81.2 PPG.

Monk leads Kentucky and the SEC in scoring with 21.9 PPG on 48.7% shooting from the field. He’s barely the only one on the Wildcats’ roster talented enough to roast LSU. De’Aaron Fox, another NBA draft lottery prospect, is behind Monk in the scoring department with 16.0 PPG. Freshman big man Edrice Adebayo, meanwhile, pumps out 13.0 PPG and grabs 6.8 boards per contest.

Writer’s Prediction

Kentucky (-25) wins, 93-70.

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