Kentucky Wildcats vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 11/9/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Kentucky (+2)

The Duke Blue Devils (13-11 last year) welcome the Kentucky Wildcats (9-16 last season) at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Kentucky opens as 2-point underdogs from Vegas oddsmakers. The over/under is set at 149.5.

The Kentucky Wildcats took the court against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and took a loss by a final of 74-73 in their last game. When it comes to personal fouls, the Wildcats finished with 17 and the Bulldogs had 17 personal fouls. They converted 5 out of their 17 shots from beyond the arc. Mississippi State finished shooting 81.8% at the free throw line by burying 9 of 11 shots. Additionally, Mississippi State collected 41 rebounds (12 offensive, 29 defensive), but didn't have a block. Mississippi State recorded 16 dimes and had 2 steals in this game. Pertaining to the defense, Kentucky allowed their opponent to shoot 49.2% from the field on 30 out of 61 shooting. They also doled out 19 assists in the matchup as well as forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and having 5 steals. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they collected 27 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats knocked down 10 of 17 attempts for a percentage of 58.8%. Kentucky finished the contest with a 41.3% FG percentage (26 of 63) and converted 11 of their 28 shots from distance.

Davion Mintz is a player who played a role for this game. He finished 60.0% from the field and also totaled 8 dimes. He played 33 mins played and collected 2 boards. He finished with 16 points on 6 out of 10 shooting.

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Kentucky comes into this matchup after finishing with a win-loss mark of 9-16 last season. They turned it over 14.0 times per game and as a group committed 18.0 fouls every game. As a unit, Kentucky pulled in 38.0 rebounds per game and racked up 313 dimes throughout last season, which was 180th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Wildcats hit on 33.5% from downtown (160 of 477) and 72.9% from the free throw line. They had an average of 70.4 pts per game (197th in college basketball) while hitting 41.7% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats forced their opponents into 12.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.2 personal fouls. They were ranked 164th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 307 surrendered last year. The Wildcats defensively allowed an opponent FG percentage of 41.3% (628 of 1,521) and they relinquished 36.2 boards per game as a unit. They conceded 31.2% on 3-point attempts and they were ranked 179th in the nation in PPG from their opponents (70.2).

When they last stepped on the court, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 70-56 when they faced the Louisville Cardinals. The Blue Devils were able to corral 29 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 41 in the matchup. They also gave up possession 8 times, while getting 6 steals in the matchup. The Cardinals earned 17 personal fouls for this game which took the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for a total of 20 shots. They were able to knock down 12 of the free throws for a percentage of 60.0%. In reference to shots from 3-point land, Duke buried 6 out of 15 attempts (40.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Blue Devils ended up shooting 26 out of 58 from the field which had them at 44.8%. The Blue Devils permitted the Cardinals to convert 19 out of 62 tries from the field which had them shooting 30.6% for the game. They shot 28.0% from 3-point land by going 7 of 25 and ended up shooting 11 out of 15 from the free throw line (73.3%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Duke permitted Louisville to grab 34 overall (10 on the offensive glass).

Mark Williams ended up being a major contributor for the Blue Devils in this matchup. He recorded 23 points in his 33 minutes on the court and tallied 1 assist in the game. He made 9 of 14 for the game giving him a rate of 64.3%, and added 19 rebounds.

Duke had a mark of 13-11 last year. The Blue Devils were responsible for committing 17.1 personal fouls every game and they shot 69.1% from the charity stripe. They dished out assists 16.1 times per contest (27th in college hoops) and they coughed up possession 12.8 times per contest. Duke scored 1,824 pts throughout last season (76.0 per game) and they pulled down 35.5 rebounds per contest. As an offensive unit, the Blue Devils shot 46.8% from the floor, which was ranked 59th in the nation.

The Blue Devils on defense were ranked 208th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 71.3. They forced 13.8 TO's every game and allowed teams to shoot 45.5% from the floor (271st in the country). The Duke defense surrendered 35.6% from downtown (157 of 441) and their opposition made 70.6% of their free throw attempts. They relinquished 12.7 dimes and 33.7 boards per game, which had them ranked 151st and 116th in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Duke (-2)

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