The Kentucky Wildcats clearly have a big problem right now. They've played two legitimate road games this year and have lost them both, the most recent of which against LSU was a romp from the get go. Theoretically, Saturday's game against the Alabama Crimson Tide should result in a nice rebound, but with the way things are going in Lexington right now, you just don't know.
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HOW THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Defense. We keep preaching it every time we see the Wildcats play, and we're sticking by that. LSU shot 30-of-61 from the field and went to the foul line a whopping 30 times, and it did all of this with Ben Simmons taking just five shots from the field and spending large chunks of the game on the bench in foul trouble.
We never thought we'd see a day where Kentucky played against an SEC team and gave up 16 offensive rebounds en route to a 43-30 rebounding disadvantage. It's borderline ridiculous with all of the talent John Calipari has on the court.
Skal Labissiere had just three points and two rebounds, Alex Poythress managed just four points and four rebounds, Marcus Lee fouled out and didn't score a point in just five minutes on the court… It was ugly from the start.
These are the men who really need to step up for the Wildcats to be successful this year. Otherwise, they're just a team with some really good guards in Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray, and that won't be anything particularly special as we head towards March.
HOW THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Avery Johnson was supposed to be undertaking a bit of a reclamation project at Alabama, but all of a sudden, he's orchestrated a 9-3 record and a couple big upsets which have this team thinking about the NCAA Tournament.
We don't have the benefit of seeing the Tide take on Ole Miss before publication of this article, but that should be a good litmus test as well of what this team is really made of.
The Crimson Tide aren't nearly as talented as Kentucky is, and it doesn't take a genius to recognize that. However, Alabama can turn the "Tide" by slowing the pace of this game down. Playing a game in the 50s or 60s at the most is the key to victory.
We've seen Retin Obasonan, Arthur Edwards and Justin Coleman play fantastic defense on the perimeter, and they're all going to have to have great games to shut down the Kentucky guards. If they do, this could become another interesting proposition for UK.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Wildcats have to be better than this, right? History suggests that Calipari is going to have his team motivated to get back on the court this weekend, and that could be really bad news for the Crimson Tide.
If Kentucky gets into the 70s in this game and the forwards get back to doing what they should be doing instead of just walking around taking up space as has been the case in recent weeks, this should be a walk in the park. We'll take our chances on the Wildcats, particularly with Alabama on just one full day of rest before this game, but we aren't as confident now as we would've been before watching them play at LSU.
Kentucky 74, Alabama 60
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