The Georgia Bulldogs are quietly the hottest team for bettors in the SEC at 8-2 ATS. They've got their biggest challenge of the conference campaign up next on Tuesday night though, as they have to travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.
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HOW THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Georgia's defense has been a lot better than originally forecasted this season. The Dawgs hold their foes to 37.6 percent shooting from the field, tops in the SEC, and the end result is just 67.7 points allowed per game.
The Bulldogs really do a good job on the defensive glass, limiting the number of second chances for their opponents, and they clearly have to do that again in this game against the bigger and more athletic Wildcats, especially here in Lexington.
Yante Maten has scored at least 17 points in four of his last six games and has had at least a dozen boards in three of his last six. If he can put together another double-double in this one, the Dawgs could have their day at Rupp.
HOW THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
You really don't know what you're going to get out of the Wildcats on a nightly basis. They've had some great games like the one they just played against Florida last weekend, but they've also had some real duds against teams like Tennessee and Auburn.
The common thread here is that the Wildcats really do play well at home, and they'll have to do so again in this one.
The Cats are really at their best when they're dominating in the backcourt. You wouldn't have thought that at the start of the season, but Saturday was yet another example of Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis taking a game over.
The duo combined for 53 points, 12 assists and 10 boards against the Gators, and you can bet if they do that again on Tuesday, the Bulldogs will be in a lot of trouble.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
We're still a little worried here about Kentucky's frontcourt. We say it time and time again when we talk about the Wildcats, but to win the tourney, they're going to need guys like Marcus Lee, Derek Willis, the injured Alex Poythress and Skal Labissiere to step up.
We do think that the Cats are going to use their home court advantage to their fullest, but covering this game is going to be tough. Georgia badly needs a win like this one to resurrect its chances of dancing in March, and Mark Fox will make sure his men are ready for the challenge.
Still, for as strong as Georgia can be defensively, stopping Ulis, Murray and Isaiah Briscoe has been virtually impossible. NCAAB teams which have beaten Kentucky have generally found a way to outscore it, and the Bulldogs just aren't setup to do that.
Look for the Dawgs to keep this one close and snare a ninth cover in their last 11, but they aren't going to pull off this shocker.
Kentucky 69, Georgia 64
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