Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 1/25/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN

Rupp Arena is the location where the Kentucky Wildcats (15-4) will attempt to defeat the Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-5) on Tuesday.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs played Ole Miss and went home with a win by a final score of 78-60 in their last game. Mississippi State walked away from the game with a 54.7% FG percentage (29 of 53) and made 6 of their 18 shots from downtown. From the free throw line, the Bulldogs converted 14 of 17 attempts for a rate of 82.4%. In relation to getting rebounds, they earned 27 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 17 assists for this contest while forcing the opposition into 16 turnovers and earning 13 steals. In the matter of defending, Mississippi State let their opponent shoot 48.9% from the floor on 23 out of 47 shooting. Ole Miss recorded 14 dimes and had 5 steals for this game. On top of that, Ole Miss grabbed 19 boards (3 offensive, 16 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Ole Miss finished shooting 75.0% from the free throw line by converting 6 of their 8 shots. They made 8 out of their 20 attempts from long range. In regard to personal fouls, the Bulldogs finished with 13 while Ole Miss recorded 13 personal fouls.

Iverson Molinar is one player who was a factor in the matchup. He ended up shooting 63.6% from the floor and also distributed 2 assists. He played 33 minutes played and also pulled down 3 boards. He totaled 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

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Mississippi State comes into this contest with a win-loss mark of 13-5 so far this season. They currently have an average of 75.5 points per contest (91st in D-1) while shooting 48.0% from the field. The Bulldogs are hitting 32.8% on 3-pointers (105 of 320) and 73.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Mississippi State is snagging 37.6 boards per game and has accounted for 260 assists for the year, which is 124th in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 11.9 times per contest and as a unit are committing 14.9 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Bulldogs are forcing 13.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.7 fouls. They currently rank 216th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 234 surrendered this season. The Bulldogs defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 42.3% (417 of 985) and they relinquish 28.4 rebounds per game as a group. They are surrendering 34.3% from 3-point land and they are ranked 85th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (65.3).

In their last game, the Kentucky Wildcats took a loss by a final score of 80-71 when they played Auburn. Concerning how they attacked the glass, Kentucky allowed Auburn to pull down 26 in total (6 offensive). They went 37.5% from beyond the arc by connecting on 6 out of 16 and finished the contest at 24 out of 29 at the charity stripe (82.8%). The Wildcats allowed Auburn to knock down 25 out of their 44 attempts from the field which had them shooting 56.8% in this contest. In all, the Wildcats finished 29 out of 58 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.0%. In the matter of shooting from distance, Kentucky buried 5 of their 12 tries (41.7%). They were able to make 8 of those for a rate of 80.0%. Auburn was called for 12 fouls for the matchup which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 10 shots. They also coughed up the ball 6 times, while recording 8 steals for the matchup. The Wildcats were able to snag 14 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards totaling 22 in this matchup.

Oscar Tshiebwe was important for the Wildcats in this game. He knocked down 7 out of 12 in the matchup for a rate of 58.3%, and had 14 rebounds. He accumulated 16 points in his 38 mins of playing time and had 1 assist for the game.

Kentucky has a win-loss mark of 15-4 so far this season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wildcats are hitting on 49.8% from the floor, which ranks 6th in the nation. Kentucky has scored 1,563 points for the year (82.3 per game) and they collect 41.6 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.9 times per game (17th in college basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 11.8 times per game. The Wildcats are responsible for committing 13.9 fouls per game and they connect on 73.4% from the free throw line.

The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 53rd in D-1 in PPG given up with 63.7. They are able to force 12.9 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.6% from the floor (70th in college basketball). The Kentucky defense surrenders 30.1% on shots from 3-point land (119 of 396) and opponents are connecting on 70.5% of their free throw shots. They give up 10.9 dimes and 28.6 rebounds per contest, which ranks 69th and 4th in the nation.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kentucky

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