Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/22/2021 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN

Rupp Arena is the location where the Kentucky Wildcats (8-2) will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-4) on Wednesday.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers stepped onto the hardwood against Louisville and went home with a win by a final score of 82-72 in their last game. Western Kentucky wrapped up the contest having earned a 50.0% FG percentage (24 out of 48) and knocked down 9 of their 18 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Hilltoppers made 25 of their 31 tries for a rate of 80.6%. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 34 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 16 assists in this game as well as forcing 10 turnovers and having 7 steals. Concerning defense, Western Kentucky let their opponent shoot 42.2% from the field on 27 of 64 shooting. Louisville doled out 17 dimes and had 6 steals for this game. Moreover, Louisville grabbed 25 boards (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Louisville went 71.4% at the charity stripe by knocking down 5 of their 7 attempts. They buried 13 out of their 36 tries from downtown. Concerning fouls, the Hilltoppers walked away with 10 while Louisville finished the game with 21 fouls.

Camron Justice is someone who was a major contributor in this game. He went 58.3% from the field and recorded 3 assists. He played for 33 mins and snagged 3 rebounds. He totaled 25 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

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Western Kentucky enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 8-4 this year. They have an average of 78.6 points per game (64th in Division 1) while going 48.2% from the floor. The Hilltoppers are shooting 33.3% on three-point attempts (90 of 270) and 70.2% from the free throw line. As a unit, Western Kentucky is grabbing 38.3 rebounds per game and has totaled 199 dimes for the year, which is 25th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 14.3 times per game and as a unit they commit 12.0 fouls per game.

Defensively, the Hilltoppers are able to force 16.5 turnovers every game and they draw 17.3 personal fouls. They are surrendering 31.3% on shots from distance while they are 117th in D-1 in points per game allowed (65.7). The Hilltoppers defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 38.2% (296 of 775) and they relinquish 36.9 boards per game as a squad. They are ranked 290th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 162 relinquished for the season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Kentucky Wildcats went home victorious with a score of 98-69 when they played North Carolina. In reference to cleaning up the glass, Kentucky allowed North Carolina to grab 24 in total (4 offensive). They went 7.7% from downtown by shooting 1 out of 13 and ended up shooting 22 of 28 from the charity stripe (78.6%). The Wildcats allowed North Carolina to knock down 23 out of 53 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 43.4% for this contest. When this game wrapped up, the Wildcats shot 39 for 72 from the field which had them at 54.2%. Pertaining to shots from 3-point land, Kentucky knocked down 8 of 15 tries (53.3%). They were able to convert 12 of the free throws for a percentage of 70.6%. North Carolina was called for 13 personal fouls in the game which took the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 17 attempts. They turned the ball over 9 times, while earning 8 steals in the matchup. The Wildcats snagged 25 defensive boards and 16 offensive rebounds totaling 41 for the matchup.

Sahvir Wheeler ended up being a major contributor for the Wildcats for this contest. He made 12 out of 15 in this game for a rate of 80.0%, and totaled 3 rebounds. He racked up 26 points in his 32 mins on the court and had 8 dimes in this game.

Kentucky has a record of 8-2 on the season. The Wildcats commit 13.6 fouls per contest and they shoot 73.4% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.7 times per game (37th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 11.7 times per game. Kentucky has scored 821 pts so far this year (82.1 per contest) and they pull down 43.9 boards per contest. As an offense, the Wildcats are shooting 48.8% from the field, which is ranked 24th in the country.

The Wildcats are ranked 59th in the country in PPG given up with 62.2. They are able to force 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 39.8% from the field (73rd in the nation). The Kentucky defense concedes 28.4% on 3-point shots (56 of 197) and their opponents are knocking down 71.2% of their free throw shots. They have given up 10.4 dimes and 27.4 rebounds per game, which is 59th and 3rd in Division 1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Kentucky

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