Kentucky Wildcats vs Florida Gators Prediction, 1/9/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Florida Gators

Date: Saturday, January 9, 2021

Location: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Kentucky (+5.5)

The Florida Gators (5-2) host the Kentucky Wildcats (3-6) at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Saturday. Kentucky opens this contest as 5.5-point underdogs. The O/U is set at 141.

Kentucky will take the court with a win-loss record of 3-6 on the year. They currently have an average of 67.7 points per contest (269th in Division 1) while connecting on 41.5% from the field. The Wildcats are connecting on 29.9% on 3-point shots (46 of 154) and 67.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Kentucky is collecting 39.0 rebounds per game and has racked up 100 dimes on the campaign, which is 233rd in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession via turnover 14.6 times per contest and as a team are committing 18.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis. On defense, the Wildcats are forcing 12.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.4 personal fouls. They are 179th in Division 1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 113 conceded so far this year. The Wildcats defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.8% (221 of 542) and they concede 35.7 boards per contest as a group. They are giving up 29.3% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 139th in college hoops in opponents points per game (68.1).

The Kentucky Wildcats faced the Vanderbilt Commodores and earned the victory with a final of 77-74 in their last game. Kentucky finished having earned a 41.8% FG percentage (23 out of 55) and buried 5 of their 13 3-point shots. At the free throw line, the Wildcats buried 26 of 32 shots for a percentage of 81.3%. In reference to hauling in boards, they compiled a total of 29 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 8 dimes for the game while getting 6 steals and 9 rejections. When talking about the defense, Kentucky allowed their opponent to shoot 41.8% from the floor on 23 of 55 shooting. Vanderbilt earned 14 assists and had 2 steals in this game. Furthurmore, the Commodores pulled down 41 boards (12 offensive, 29 defensive) and earned 9 blocks. Vanderbilt walked away from this one shooting 71.4% from the free throw line by converting 10 of their 14 shots. They knocked down 10 out of their 27 attempts from three-point range.

Olivier Sarr is a guy who came through in this matchup. He ended up with 24 points on 5 out of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 28 mins and also collected 7 boards. Sarr finished 50.0% from the floor and recorded 2 assists. One more player that was a factor in the game for the Wildcats was Dontaie Allen. He totaled 5 rebounds and totaled 2 dimes. He finished the game at 40.0% from the field for the contest by connecting on 4-of-10 (14 points). When the final whistle blew, Allen saw the court for 32 min.

Florida has a record of 5-2 this season. Florida has 568 pts on the campaign (81.1 per game) and they collect 36.7 rebounds per game. The Gators commit 22.1 personal fouls every game and they hit 73.4% from the charity stripe. When it comes to executing on offense, the Gators are connecting on 48.8% from the field, which has them ranked 53rd in Division 1. They are earning an assist 13.0 times per contest (216th in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 14.7 times per contest. The Gators on the defensive side of the court are 201st in college hoops in PPG given up with 71.3. The Florida defense concedes 36.6% on shots from behind the 3-point line (53 of 145) and opponents are connecting on 72.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 11.7 assists and 33.6 rebounds per game, which is 115th and 109th in those categories. They are able to force 16.7 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.5% from the field (84th in college basketball).

When they last played, the Florida Gators took a loss by a final score of 86-71 when they faced the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Gators recorded 19 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards for a total of 31 in the game. They also rejected 4 tries while recording 9 steals for this contest. The Crimson Tide were called for 18 fouls in this game which took the Gators to the charity stripe for a total of 14 shots. They were able to bury 8 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 57.1%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, Florida buried 9 out of 20 tries (45.0%). Overall, the Gators ended up shooting 27 out of 68 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 39.7%. The Gators allowed the Crimson Tide to convert 31 of 67 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 46.3% in the game. They finished 40.0% from three-point range by going 8 of 20 and ended up going 16 of 21 at the free throw line (76.2%). When talking about team rebounding, Florida permitted Alabama to grab 40 in all (12 on the offensive side).

Tyree Appleby pitched in for the Gators for this game. He knocked down 6 of 12 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, which gave him 18 points. Appleby pulled down 5 boards in his 30 minutes played and had 3 dimes for this contest. One more player who was a determining factor for Florida was Colin Castleton. He totaled 13 points in 26 minutes played by going 6 out of 11 shooting for this game. Castleton ended up shooting 54.5% from the field in addition to earning 2 assists and 8 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kentucky (+5.5)

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