In an effort to overcome their first loss of the year, the Wildcats will return home to host an Eastern Kentucky team clearly out of its depths. Kentucky hasn’t dominated the weaker opposition as expected, but does have a favorable history against the Colonels.
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HOW THE EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
There’s no doubt this is still a very tough matchup for the Colonels, but the Wildcats, while still ranked No. 1, are coming off their first loss of the season, falling to UCLA on the road, 87-77.
With that SU loss, the Wildcats also extended their ATS losing streak to five straight games.
Before the UCLA loss, Kentucky was favored by more than 20-points in each of its last four games. Look for the Wildcats to be heavy favorites once against Eastern Kentucky, giving the Colonels a good chance at covering the spread as the Wildcats’ last five opponents have done.
Even with the Wildcats’ struggles ATS, for the Colonels to cover, they’ll need production from the frontcourt, namely forward Nick Mayo. Mayo is the team’s only real threat in the paint. In the last game, he put up 10 points while guards Jarelle Reischel and JaVontae Hawkins scored 24 and 16 respectively.
To beat the spread, May needs to hold his own down low, but the Colonels need to win the battle on the outside. That’s a tall order, but Reischel is averaging 19.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 3.7 APG and two steals per game. In addition, Hawkins is a scoring machine, too, checking in with 18.8 PPG and 23 total assists.
HOW THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
While UCLA showed the Wildcats aren’t invincible and recent losses ATS are cause for concern for bettors, Kentucky was beaten by the Bruins in the paint and Eastern Kentucky lacks the front court presence to replicate that, even in a watered down version on Wednesday.
Eastern Kentucky ranks No. 6 in the nation in scoring, but they’ll get tested against a strong Kentucky defense, holding the opposition to 65.4 PPG and allowing a shooting percentage just over 40 percent.
Much like the Colonels, the Wildcats lean on their guards to make things happen, but the Wildcats’ presence down low is much better then Eastern Kentucky’s. Skal Labissiere is still averaging 12 PPG and Alex Poythress, while not living up to expectations, still gives Kentucky a third forward along with Marcus Lee that can shoot over 50 percent from the floor while proving rebounds and blocked shots in the paint.
The frontcourt is Kentucky’s weakest area, but compared to Eastern Kentucky it’s got the upper hand there. Meanwhile, they’ve got more than enough talent in the back court with Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis and company to give Reisehel and Hawkins more than enough trouble.
As for the Colonels, they’ve got a disappointing loss on their record, too, falling 86-84 on the road to Western Kentucky despite going off the betting board as 6.5-point favorites.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
While the loss to UCLA leaves some cause for some concern for Kentucky fans and five straight losses ATS shows the Wildcats are vulnerable, struggling to live up to the lofty expectations, they should still earn this win by a rather hefty margin. In fact, the loss to the Bruins could serve as a catalyst of sorts, giving the Wildcats added motivation.
A season ago, Kentucky scored the 33-point victory to cover the spread against Eastern Kentucky for the first time in three years.
Kentucky 86, Eastern Kentucky 60
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Don’t miss out on getting paid because you couldn’t bet, click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The contest between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and Kentucky Wildcats will take place Wednesday, December 9, 2015, at 7 p.m. ET at the Rupp Arena. You can watch the game live on ESPN2.
