Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 12/26/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Kentucky (+4)

The Louisville Cardinals (5-1) host the Kentucky Wildcats (1-5) at KFC Yum! Center on Saturday. Louisville opens this game as 4-point favorites. The over/under opens at 134.5.

Kentucky steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 1-5 so far this year. They are averaging 65.8 pts per game (279th in D-1) while hitting 42.6% from the field. The Wildcats are hitting 24.3% on three-point attempts (25 of 103) and 66.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Kentucky is collecting 39.0 boards per contest and has tallied 69 assists for the year, which is 244th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 16.7 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 19.7 fouls per game. On defense, the Wildcats are forcing 12.3 turnovers every game while drawing 18.2 personal fouls. They are ranked 119th in the country in giving up assists with 74 relinquished for the year. The Wildcats defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 40.9% (146 of 357) and they concede 33.0 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are giving up 27.1% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 126th in college basketball in opponents points per game (67.3).

The Kentucky Wildcats faced the North Carolina Tar Heels and ended up losing by a score of 75-63 in their last contest. Kentucky ended the contest having earned a 39.6% FG percentage (21 out of 53) and knocked down 3 out of their 13 three-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats knocked down 18 of 30 attempts for a percentage of 60.0%. In reference to pulling down rebounds, they earned 40 with 14 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 8 assists for this contest while getting 5 steals and 4 rejections. When discussing defense, Kentucky allowed 39.6% from the field on 21 out of 53 shooting. North Carolina earned 14 dimes and had 2 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Tar Heels snagged 37 boards (15 offensive, 22 defensive) and got 4 blocks. North Carolina ended up going 62.1% from the charity stripe by burying 18 of their 29 attempts. They converted 5 out of their 20 shots from distance.

Davion Mintz is a guy who came through for the game. He ended up scoring 17 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. He played 37 mins and collected 8 rebounds. Mintz finished 54.5% from the floor and also recorded 2 dimes. Another guy that was a major factor in this contest for the Wildcats was Brandon Boston. He collected 7 rebounds and had 2 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 35.7% from the floor for this game by connecting on 5-of-14 (15 points). When this game wrapped up, Boston saw the court for 35 minutes.

Louisville has a win-loss mark of 5-1 for the campaign. Louisville has 423 pts so far this year (70.5 per contest) and they average 37.8 rebounds per game. The Cardinals are responsible for committing 18.7 personal fouls per game while shooting 72.0% from the free throw line. When it comes to executing on offense, the Cardinals are hitting on 48.7% from the field, which is 74th in the nation. They are getting an assist 13.2 times per game (191st in Division 1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.3 times per game. The Cardinals on defense are ranked 43rd in the country in points allowed per game with 61.8. They are forcing their opponents into 12.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 40.2% from the field (97th in college basketball). The Louisville defense gives up 34.1% on three-point shots (44 of 129) and opponents are knocking down 56.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 10.7 dimes and 29.5 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 61st and 29th in college basketball.

The last time they took the court, the Louisville Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 64-54 against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The Cardinals collected 29 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 42 for the game. They stuffed 5 shots while getting 4 steals in this contest. The Panthers were called for 20 personal fouls in this game which got the Cardinals to the free throw line for a total of 21 attempts. They were able to knock down 12 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 57.1%. In terms of 3-point attempts, Louisville made 4 out of 17 tries (23.5%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cardinals went 24 for 51 from the field which had them shooting 47.1%. The Cardinals allowed the Panthers to convert 21 out of their 52 tries from the field which left them shooting 40.4% for the game. They finished shooting 28.6% from beyond the arc via 4 out of 14 and ended up shooting 8 of 19 at the free throw line (42.1%). When talking about attacking the glass, Louisville permitted Pittsburgh to snag 24 overall (7 offensive).

David Johnson ended up having an impact for the Cardinals in this game. He converted 8 of 12 in this game for a rate of 66.7%, which earned him 17 points. Johnson pulled down 11 boards in his 38 minutes played and totaled 2 assists in the matchup. One more player that ended up playing a role for Louisville was Samuell Williamson. He was able to score 14 points in his 35 minutes played via 4 out of 9 shooting in the game. Williamson finished going 44.4% from the floor in addition to earning 2 assists and 12 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kentucky (+4)

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