Neither the Indiana Hoosiers nor the Kentucky Wildcats were overly happy with their seeds for the NCAA Tournament, and both played angry basketball in blowouts over inferior foes on Thursday night. Now, we've got our dream matchup in the Round of 32 between two of the true bluebloods of the sport.
NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu will be available for this and the rest of the great Round of 32 games this weekend.
HOW THE INDIANA HOOSIERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Stony Brook had absolutely nothing going in the middle of the paint against Kentucky. We're not comparing the Indiana offense to the Stony Brook offense, but these Wildcats are incredibly lanky and felt like they were always in position to thwart any chance the Seawolves had of producing offense, particularly in that dominant first half.
The good news is that they've got the perfect man to break through those trees in Yogi Ferrell. It isn't often that Ferrell ultimately ends up with double-doubles, but his 20 points and 10 assists were crucial against Chattanooga on Thursday night. Time and time again, he had the ball at the top of the key, drove into the heart of the 2-3 zone defense and either popped a shot or dished the ball to a back-cutter or a sharpshooter out on the baseline. That's how the Hoosiers are going to have a shot at Kentucky in this one.
Indiana has proven time and time again that it's a tremendous shooting team when it gets some space. You don't shoot 50.5 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from beyond the arc over 33 games for no reason.
HOW THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Skal Labissiere proved on Thursday night why he's a legitimate NBA prospect. He helped the Wildcats set an NCAA Tournament record with 15 blocked shots, and he showed that he could score both with a jump shot and by jamming the ball down the defense's throat on the inside.
Jamal Murray took a little while to get started against Stony Brook, but he ended with 19 points and seven rebounds. If he can ultimately play out the full 40 minutes without hitting a massive offensive lull, the Hoosiers are going to be in a lot of trouble, especially if the bigs continue to play as well as they have these last couple weeks for UK.
One area of concern is offensive rebounding. Stony Brook had 20 offensive boards against the Wildcats, something that had to rip at the heart of John Calipari. That's a mistake you can get away with against an America East team, but against one of the best teams in the Big Ten, that certainly would be grounds for dismissal from this tournament.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Just as we've long-awaited this matchup, we've felt like a North Carolina/Kentucky matchup in the Sweet 16 would be one heck of a fight, perhaps one that could decide the Final Four rep in the South or even the National Championship.
Tom Crean said it right on the sidelines in an interview during the Kentucky game that he was interested in seeing the size and the length of the Wildcats in person. Our guess is that his team isn't ready for this just as Stony Brook wasn't. It's really tough to prepare for a game like this one against a team which is just so darn physical yet able to score 90 points if it needs to, and the Hoosiers, especially without James Blackmon Jr. in the fold, won't be able to keep up.
Kentucky 77, Indiana 67
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