Written by Rohit Ghosh
Follow @rohitghosh on Twitter
Kentucky vs Florida: College Basketball Saturday
Saturday afternoon features Kentucky and Florida going at it for the SEC's top spot and a potential No. 2 tourney seed. Both sides entering the matchup with the exact same conference (13-2) and regular season (23-5) record.
Kentucky opened up at 3-point favorites, with the total set at 157. At the time of publication, UK is a 4-point favorite, with the total down to 155.5.
What to Watch For
Gators Dominating Lately: Florida is playing some of the best ball in the country right now, winning nine straight including seven by double-digit margins. Florida recorded a 22-point victory over UK down in Gainesville earlier in February. The Gators enter Saturday's matchup following an 81-66 victory over South Carolina in which Florida shot 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Fox, Out: UK guard De'Aaron Fox is still listed as questionable for Saturday's matchup, according to head coach John Calipari on Friday. More so than Fox being in or out, what's been UK's biggest hurdle this season is inconsistency. They squeezed out a 10-point victory over Missouri, most recently, but struggled at the charity stripe to start the game - a sign of potential struggles come March.
This game being in Lexington should be enough to see a top-notch performance from the Wildcats.
Florida Dominating the Boards: Florida ranks fairly low -- nationally --in terms of total rebound rate. They're No. 96 in the country, whereas Kentucky is substantially better at No. 33. Surprisingly, though, Florida dominated the boards in their most recent matchup 45-29.
Keep an eye on the offensive boards, especially early on. UK is No. 9 in the nation with an average of 11.8 offensive rebounds per game.
AccuScore has predictions for every major NCAA Division I college basketball game against the spread and on the over/under, along with player projections and hot trends analysis. Starting the week off, the computer was picking 55% winners against the spread for the season for a profit of $13,650… Try a Free 7-day trial - Become a member today!
Betting Trends
• The Gators are 7-2 against the spread(ATS) in their last 9 games overall.
• The Gators are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. SEC opponents.
• The OVER is 12-5 in the Gators' last 17 road games.
• The Wildcats are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games overall.
• The Wildcats are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 vs. SEC opponents.
• The Wildcats are 22-10 ATS in their last 32 home games.
Final Word
There's no doubt the game will be a close one. There's just too much on the line, at this point of the season. The Wildcats will be looking to avenge their loss in Gainesville and should cover the 3-point spread listed at the time of publication. UK and the UNDER.
