Kentucky Wildcats vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Mississippi State Bulldogs

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, MS

TV: SECN

Odds/Point Spread: Kentucky (-1)

Humphrey Coliseum is the site where and the Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-3) will play the Kentucky Wildcats (1-6) on Saturday. Mississippi State opens this contest as 1-point dogs. The over/under has been set at 132.

Kentucky heads into this one with a win-loss mark of 1-6 this season. They are turning it over 15.9 times per game and as a team they are committing 19.0 personal fouls per game. As a team, Kentucky is grabbing 39.1 rebounds per game and is sitting with 75 dimes on the season, which ranks 253rd in the nation in terms of passing. The Wildcats are hitting 25.0% on shots from distance (30 of 120) and 66.2% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 64.9 points per game (292nd in the nation) while hitting 41.4% from the floor. When they are on defense, the Wildcats are able to force 12.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.0 fouls. They currently rank 129th in the nation in giving up assists with 83 surrendered for the year. The Wildcats defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 41.1% (168 of 409) and they surrender 33.3 boards per game as a basketball team. They are giving up 27.5% on three-point shots and they rank 109th in college basketball in opponents PPG (66.6).

The Kentucky Wildcats faced the Louisville Cardinals and took a loss by a final of 62-59 in their last game. Kentucky finished the contest having earned a 34.5% FG percentage (20 of 58) and made 5 of their 17 shots from distance. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats made 14 of their 22 shots for a percentage of 63.6%. In relation to getting rebounds, they compiled 35 with 15 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 6 assists in this game while having 7 steals and 5 blocked shots. When discussing defending, Kentucky allowed their opponent to shoot 34.5% from the floor on 20 out of 58 shooting. Louisville distributed 9 dimes and had 5 steals in this game. Furthurmore, the Cardinals had 34 rebounds (7 offensive, 27 defensive) and had 5 blocks. Louisville went 80.0% from the charity stripe by burying 12 of their 15 shots. They also buried 6 out of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc.

Davion Mintz is a player who was important for the game. He ended up walking away with 19 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 mins played and also snagged 7 rebounds. Mintz ended up going 50.0% from the floor and dished out 2 dimes. One more player that was a major contributor in the game for the Wildcats was Brandon Boston. He grabbed 7 rebounds and also earned 2 assists. He finished 27.3% from the field for the matchup by hitting 3-of-11 (11 points). When this game wrapped up, Boston saw the court for 29 min.

Mississippi State has a win-loss record of 6-3 so far this season. The Bulldogs commit 17.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 59.3% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 13.2 times per game (198th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.4 times per contest. Mississippi State has earned 667 pts so far this year (74.1 per contest) and they snag 40.9 boards per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Bulldogs are shooting 46.1% from the field, which ranks 138th in college basketball. The Bulldogs defensively are ranked 70th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 64.6. The Mississippi State defense gives up 34.3% on shots from distance (79 of 230) and their opposition knocks down 73.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 13.8 dimes and 30.2 boards every game, which ranks 222nd and 31st in the country. They are able to force 12.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.5% from the field (69th in D-1).

When they last stepped on the court, the Mississippi State Bulldogs got the win with a final of 83-73 when they faced the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs recorded 27 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 38 for this contest. They turned away 7 shots while getting 8 steals for the game. The Bulldogs were called for 17 fouls in this matchup which took the Bulldogs to the free throw line for 18 attempts. They were able to bury 13 of those for a clip of 72.2%. In regard to three-point shots, Mississippi State buried 12 out of 27 attempts (44.4%). When this game wrapped up, the Bulldogs finished shooting 29 for 66 from the floor which had them at 43.9%. The Bulldogs permitted the Bulldogs to bury 26 of 65 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 40.0% for the contest. They shot 36.0% from three-point range by going 9 out of 25 and ended up shooting 12 out of 18 from the free throw line (66.7%). Regarding how they attacked the glass, Mississippi State allowed Georgia to snag 38 in total (11 on the offensive side).

Iverson Molinar ended up being a factor for the Bulldogs for the game. He knocked down 8 of 14 for the matchup for a rate of 57.1%, which had him finishing with 24 points. Molinar collected 3 rebounds in his 26 minutes and had 3 dimes for this contest. Another guy that was pivotal for Mississippi State was D.J. Stewart. He totaled 18 points in 35 minutes played via 8 out of 20 shooting in the matchup. Stewart ended the game having shot 40.0% from the field and also totaling 2 dimes and 7 rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Mississippi State (+1) and over 132 points

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