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Supremacy in the SEC East will be on the line Saturday night when the Florida Gators travel to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky has already fallen to two SEC East rivals this season and has looked much more vulnerable than in season’s past. The streaky Gators are riding high again after a dominating win over Arkansas on Wednesday night, and they are looking to grab another road victory. If they win, they will be two games up on Kentucky.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, January 20, 2018, at 8:15 p.m. ET at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Florida easily covered the number against Arkansas on Wednesday night and has now covered in four of its last five games. The Gators’ lone hiccup was an outright loss as a five-point favorite against Ole Miss.
Over has been a good bet in SEC play for the Gators. Four of their six games finished over the total.
The Wildcats are happy to be back at home. Kentucky has not looked good on the road this year, losing to both Tennessee and South Carolina. However, while the Wildcats are 2-0 at home in SEC play, those wins have not been impressive. They beat Georgia and Texas A&M by a combined six points and failed to cover either game.
Kentucky has been able to have more success on the offensive end at home. The over has cashed in six of the Wildcats’ last seven home games.
Key Stat
Florida has been a team that is lived and died by the three all year long. The Gators are running a four-guard lineup and that has meant little interior presence.
This team has a number of shooters that can connect from distance. Four of the five leading scorers are hitting 40 percent of better from downtown, with KeVaughn Allen being the lone exception.
When John Egbunu returns, Florida will finally have the big body it needs. However, until then, this team is going to have to hit the three to beat good opponents. Unfortunately for the Gators, Kentucky has one of the best perimeter defenses in the country. The Wildcats are allowing teams to hit just 29 percent of their threes, the seventh-best number in the nation.
Player to Watch
Hamidou Diallo has been one of the keys to Kentucky’s offense this season. Diallo needed to make an instant impact as a freshman because of Kentucky’s annual tradition of sending most of last year’s starters straight to the NBA. Yet while he looked good in non-conference play, he has not been as effective since the SEC slate opened.
Diallo has hit 40 percent or less from the floor in four of his last five games. Additionally, he has tallied eight turnovers and just five assists in those five outings. That’s not good for a guard that was expected to help out as a distributor too.
Fouls have been a major problem for him too. He fouled out in both of Kentucky’s losses and got into trouble against Vanderbilt as well.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
The under is going to be a great bet in this game. With the number of overs that have cashed for both teams in these situations, the line will be a little inflated. Neither team will be able to get its offense going though as Florida is bottled up by Kentucky’s guards, while the Wildcats have had their share of shooting woes.
As for a side, go ahead and take Kentucky. The Wildcats will win and cover here because of their size in the frontcourt. Kevin Knox will have a solid game and lead the Wildcats to the victory.
College Basketball Odds: Kentucky 71, Florida 64
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