Ohio State Buckeyes vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/18/2021 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Saturday, December 18, 2021

Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: CBS

The Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2) are traveling to T-Mobile Arena on Saturday where they will meet the Kentucky Wildcats (7-2).

The Ohio State Buckeyes took the court against Wisconsin and earned the victory with a final of 73-55 in their last contest. In relation to personal fouls, the Buckeyes ended up with 14 while Wisconsin recorded 19 personal fouls. They buried 6 of their 26 attempts from downtown. Wisconsin finished the game shooting 55.6% at the free throw line by making 5 of their 9 attempts. Moreover, Wisconsin collected 25 boards (3 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Wisconsin earned 7 assists and had 7 steals for the matchup. When talking about the defense, Ohio State allowed the other team to shoot 33.8% from the floor on 22 of 65 shooting. They also recorded 15 assists in this matchup while forcing 8 turnovers and earning 4 steals. In relation to rebounding, they earned 47 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Buckeyes converted 9 of their 13 tries for a percentage of 69.2%. Ohio State walked away from the contest with a 50.0% FG percentage (29 of 58) and made 6 of their 19 3-point attempts.

E.J. Liddell is one player who came through for this game. He ended up scoring 28 points on 11 out of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 31 minutes and snagged 9 rebounds. He finished shooting 68.8% from the field and also distributed 4 assists.

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Ohio State will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 8-2 so far this year. They average 75.7 points per game (108th in Division 1) while connecting on 49.1% from the field. The Buckeyes are hitting 38.6% on shots from 3-point land (86 of 223) and 72.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Ohio State is pulling down 36.2 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 152 assists on the campaign, which ranks 115th in college basketball in terms of passing. They turn it over 12.6 times per contest and as a group they commit 16.9 personal fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Buckeyes are forcing 11.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.7 fouls. They are conceding 31.4% on shots from downtown and they are 170th in college basketball in points per game allowed (67.5). The Buckeyes are giving up a shooting percentage of 39.9% (239 of 599) and they surrender 32.5 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are 27th in college hoops in giving up assists with 94 conceded for the season.

In their last game, the Kentucky Wildcats took a loss by a final score of 66-62 against Notre Dame. When talking about team rebounding, Kentucky allowed Notre Dame to get 29 in total (4 on the offensive side). They went 31.8% from three-point range by going 7 out of 22 and walked away from this one shooting 7 of 8 from the free throw line (87.5%). The Wildcats permitted Notre Dame to knock down 26 of 56 tries from the field which left them shooting 46.4% in this matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Wildcats shot 25 for 55 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.5%. When it comes to shooting from 3-point land, Kentucky knocked down 2 of their 19 attempts (10.5%). They were able to knock down 10 of those for a rate of 66.7%. Notre Dame was called for 14 fouls in the matchup which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 15 attempts. They also turned it over 5 times, while earning 5 steals for this contest. The Wildcats were able to snag 21 defensive boards and 5 offensive rebounds totaling 26 for this contest.

Oscar Tshiebwe ended up being a factor for the Wildcats in this matchup. He earned 25 points in his 37 minutes on the court and had 1 assist for the game. He made 11 out of 14 for the contest giving him a rate of 78.6%, and accounted for 7 rebounds.

Kentucky has a mark of 7-2 so far this year. The Wildcats have committed 12.8 fouls per game while shooting 73.7% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 16.3 times per contest (39th in the nation) and they are turning it over 12.0 times per game. Kentucky has tallied 723 points so far this season (80.3 per game) and they pull in 43.9 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Wildcats are connecting on 48.1% from the field, which is 40th in college basketball.

The Wildcats on defense are ranked 53rd in college basketball in points allowed per contest with 61.4. They are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.4% from the field (58th in college basketball). The Kentucky defense surrenders 29.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (55 of 184) and opponents are making 69.2% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 10.6 dimes and 27.6 boards per contest, ranking them 69th and 3rd in those defensive categories.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Ohio State

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