College Basketball Odds - Kentucky vs. Kansas Game Preview

The Kentucky Wildcats have received a much bigger test than they were expecting the first two weeks of the college basketball season. Kentucky struggled to put away tiny Utah Valley in its opener on Friday, winning by only 10. However, that’s nothing compared to what happened on Sunday. The Wildcats nearly ended up losing to a game Vermont team that came into Lexington and gave them all they could handle. Now, you have to wonder how Kentucky will react when they face its first real test in the Kansas Jayhawks.

This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at 9:30 p.m. ET at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. 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 Tuesday schedule.

Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu

Kansas didn’t have any problem handling Tennessee State in its opener. The Jayhawks covered the 26.5-point spread with ease, leading by 29 at the half in an eventual 36-point win. Kansas will be trying to reverse a disturbing trend against Kentucky this Tuesday. Bill Self and the Jayhawks have lost one of their first two games in each of the last three seasons. One of those losses just happened to be a 72-40 dismantling at the hands of the Wildcats.

Given that the Wildcats only beat Utah Valley by 10 and Vermont by 4, you know that this team has yet to cover a spread this season. However, they have yet to cover even if you teased them in both games as those wins fell well short of the number.

Matchup to Watch

You never know how a team chock full of freshmen will respond. Coach John Calipari has learned that over the years as some of his teams of talented freshmen have immediately gelled and destroyed teams, while others have had a tough time adjusting at the next level.

It seems to be the latter for Kentucky, at least through the early part of the season. The Wildcats have not been able to find much success and superstar freshman Kevin Knox is really struggling. Knox is hitting just 26 percent of his field goal attempts this season and that is keeping this team from getting into a rhythm. The talent is there so you have to let him keep shooting, but he has just not played that well.

Instead, it’s the two “veterans” that are leading the way. Hamidou Diallo is the team’s leading scorer and has been solid from range, and Wenyen Gabriel has cleaned up the glass and been a great defensive presence in limited minutes.

Players to Watch

There’s no denying that this Kansas team still has oodles of talent. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has gotten off to a good start this season and Udoza Azubuike dominated against North Florida. Azubuike filled out his seven foot frame and is a potential powerhouse down low.

Both of them need to improve on some of their flaws though. For being 6’8, Mykhailiuk has no inside presence. He is rail thin and doesn’t drive to the basket, being content to just shoot from distance all game long. Mykhailiuk needs to start doing this from time to time just so opponents respect a possible drive.

Azubuike has a far more worrying problem. He was terrible from the free throw line in limited action last year and is a major liability if he can’t be at least decent from the stripe. Azubuike sunk just 36 percent of his free throws in 2016-17. Ask Calipari how this can adversely affect your team if you have the talent to win it all.

Free College Basketball ATS Picks

Kansas will certainly be favored with how Kentucky has played, but the Jayhawks have some flaws too. If Kentucky is getting any more than five, I’ll take my chances with the Cats.

College Basketball Odds: Kansas 73, Kentucky 71

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