One of the best rivalries in college basketball will see its 51st meeting when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Louisville Cardinals this Friday. This rivalry has been historically dominated by Kentucky, but Louisville’s resurgence over the last decade has made this competitive again. A little something might be missing without Rick Pitino on the sidelines coaching Louisville, but this is sure to be an excellent game.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, December 29, 2017, at 1 p.m. ET at Rupp Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. The game will be televised live on CBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Friday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Louisville is off to a good start under new coach David Padgett. The Cardinals are 10-2 with their only losses coming at the hands of Seton Hall and Purdue. They have decent wins over name-brand teams like Indiana and Memphis, but have not been good against the number. Louisville is just 4-6 ATS on the year.
The Wildcats are still coming together as a team. Kentucky was favored to knock off UCLA in New Orleans the weekend before Christmas, but lost outright as a 6.5-point favorite. The Wildcats offense has played pretty well recently though. As a result, over has cashed in each of their last four games.
Last Meeting
Louisville squeaked out a victory when these two teams squared off last season. Quentin Snider came up big for the Cardinals and was the team’s leading scorer in that game. He went 10-19 from the floor and filled the stat sheet in other ways too. He grabbed six boards, doled out five assists, and even picked up two steals.
Once again, Kentucky has a virtually brand-new roster. The Wildcats no longer have De’Aaron Fox, Edrice Adebayo, and Malik Monk, and those three were the only members that got into double digits the last time these teams met.
The Wildcats tried to up the tempo when these teams played last year and will both try to do the same thing this time around. Kentucky doesn’t have great guards like it did with Monk and Fox though, so don’t be surprised if this game stalls out.
Player to Watch
Kevin Knox has gotten a lot of the attention for Kentucky, but the person to keep your eye on in this game is Hamidou Diallo. Diallo has seen a good bit of action and is the second-leading scorer on the team.
Diallo has really stepped things up over the last few games. He is averaging 20 PPG over Kentucky’s last four games. However, he isn’t the most efficient shooter in the world. Diallo is shooting just 45.7 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from beyond the arc.
He has gotten involved in other ways too. Diallo is averaging almost five rebounds a game and has been good on the defensive end too. He has eight steals over the team’s last five games.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Louisville has the experience advantage heading into this one. Their five starters all played against Kentucky in this game last season, including Snider. Snider is from Louisville originally so he has been always extremely motivated for this showdown.
The Wildcats are looking for their first signature win of the season. They were able to knock off Virginia Tech earlier in the year, but lost to both Kansas and UCLA. This would be a good chance to get a quality win, especially since the SEC hasn’t picked up many in non-conference play.
The spread in this game should be pretty narrow. Louisville hasn’t picked up a nice win yet either this season and Rupp Arena is one of the toughest places to play. For that reason, back the Wildcats to win at home.
College Basketball Odds: Kentucky 78, Louisville 74
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