The Davidson Wildcats squeaked into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament by winning their conference tournament, and now are hoping to stay awhile. It seems like at least one No. 12 seed pulls an upset in each year of March Madness and Davidson would love to be the one to do so. It has a tough opening round game against the No. 5 seed Kentucky Wildcats.
Kentucky has not been the dominant team it has shown to be in years past but still has a ton of talent and is playing some of its best ball of the season at this point. The Wildcats are hoping to cruise to the win to move on to the second round, but the oddsmakers believe this could be a pretty close matchup.
Davidson will be the underdog but not to the point where an upset it completely out of the question.
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Odds Analysis
Kentucky has been listed as a six-point favorite to win this game, and the money is coming in pretty evenly on each side. The scoring total is listed at 143 for this contest, with the “over” the more popular choice by the betting public.
Davidson is 21-11 straight up and 19-12 against the spread. It has gone 4-2 against the spread on a neutral court. Davidson has covered in three of seven attempts as the underdog this year.
Kentucky is 24-10 straight up and 17-17 against the spread on the season. The Wildcats have done a nice job on a neutral court, covering in five of six attempts. Kentucky is 13-12 against the spread as the favorite on the year. It has covered in three straight games.
Key Stat
7. That’s how many wins Kentucky has in its past eight games. The team lost four straight beginning in late January, but finished the season strong and should bring a lot of momentum into this tournament.
Kentucky’s only loss in this stretch came to Florida on March 3rd when the Wildcats fell by 13 points to the Gators. The team rebounded in the Southeast Conference Tournament, defeating Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee on its way to the championship.
The Wildcats had fallen to Tennessee earlier in the season so their 77-72 win against the Vols in the conference title game will be a nice confidence-booster.
Player To Watch
Peyton Aldridge — Davidson has leaned heavily on Aldridge again this season, and the senior forward has answered the call. He will be the team’s best weapon in the postseason as well if the Wildcats want to make some noise in this year’s tournament.
Aldridge is averaging 21.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a game and was a huge factor in the Wildcats’ Atlantic 10 championship. He finished with 35 points and seven rebounds in Davidson’s 78-60 win over Saint Louis in the quarterfinals and had 24 points and seven rebounds against St. Bonaventure in the semis.
Aldridge has been putting up big numbers all season long, in fact. He has scored 30 points or more on five occasions this year and has both to be a reliable and experienced leader for the Wildcats on the court.
Free NCAA ATS Picks
It has been a decade since Stephen Curry led Davidson on a Cinderella run deep into the NCAA Tournament. However, the NCAA basketball betting lines won’t be as kind to the Wildcats this time around.
Kentucky has the superior firepower and is finding a groove. Take Kentucky to both win this game outright as well as cover the spread in NCAA basketball odds.
NCAA Odds: Kentucky 77, Davidson 70
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