Kentucky Wildcats vs Florida Gators Prediction, 2/22/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Florida Gators

Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023

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

TV: ESPN

The Florida Gators (14-13) will play the Kentucky Wildcats (18-9) at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Wednesday.

The Kentucky Wildcats faced Tennessee and went home with a win by a final score of 66-54 in their last game. When discussing fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 19 while Tennessee finished the game with 25 fouls. They converted 6 out of their 27 shots from downtown. Tennessee finished the contest at 28.6% when shooting free throws by converting 4 of their 14 attempts. On top of that, Tennessee collected 31 rebounds (10 offensive, 21 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Tennessee distributed 10 assists and had 4 steals for the contest. When talking about defense, Kentucky allowed 37.3% from the floor on 22 of 59 shooting. They also doled out 11 assists for the matchup as well as forcing 8 turnovers and having 5 steals. In reference to getting rebounds, they compiled 35 with 7 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 23 of 35 shots for a percentage of 65.7%. Kentucky ended the game having earned a 44.4% FG percentage (20 of 45) and converted 3 out of their 8 shots from downtown.

Cason Wallace is a player who played a role in this game. He accounted for 16 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 40 minutes and also snagged 6 boards. He went 42.9% from the field and dished out 6 dimes.

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Kentucky will enter this game with a mark of 18-9 this season. They turn it over 11.4 times per game and as a squad are committing 15.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Kentucky is pulling down 38.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 427 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 44th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Wildcats are hitting 36.3% on three-point shots (179 of 493) and 69.4% from the free throw line. They have an average of 74.3 points per game (120th in the country) on 45.6% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats are forcing 11.5 turnovers per game while drawing 16.7 personal fouls. They give up 32.6% from 3-point land and they rank 107th in the country in PPG allowed (67.5). The Wildcats defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.2% (659 of 1,524) and they relinquish 30.6 boards per game as a group. They rank 103rd in college basketball in allowing assists with 322 surrendered so far this season.

In their last game, the Florida Gators walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 84-65 when they played Arkansas. When talking about rebounding, Florida allowed Arkansas to pull down 37 in all (8 offensive). They finished the game shooting 20.0% from three-point range by connecting on 2 of 10 and ended up shooting 14 out of 17 from the free throw line (82.4%). The Gators permitted Arkansas to knock down 34 of their 59 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 57.6% in the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Gators finished shooting 22 for 59 from the floor which had them shooting 37.3%. In terms of shots from beyond the perimeter, Florida made 4 out of their 21 attempts (19.0%). They were able to bury 17 of those for a rate of 81.0%. Arkansas had 12 fouls in this game which got the Gators to the free throw line for 21 attempts. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while earning 9 steals in the matchup. The Gators were able to collect 16 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 22 in the matchup.

Riley Kugel was important for the Gators for this contest. He converted 5 out of 12 in the matchup giving him a rate of 41.7%, and had 2 rebounds. He accumulated 17 points in his 29 mins on the hardwood and tallied 1 assist in this contest.

Florida has a record of 14-13 for the campaign. The Gators are responsible for committing 16.0 personal fouls per game and they shoot 73.3% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 12.3 times per game (256th in Division 1) and they turn it over 11.2 times per game. Florida has scored 1,932 points this season (71.6 per contest) and they grab 35.4 boards per contest. When it comes to offense, the Gators are shooting 43.5% from the floor, which ranks them 252nd in the nation.

The Gators defensively are ranked 115th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 67.6. They are able to force 12.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 40.8% from the floor (41st in D-1). The Florida defense allows 32.3% from downtown (163 of 504) and opponents are converting on 70.7% of their free throw attempts. They have relinquished 11.1 assists and 38.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 67th and 345th in the nation.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Florida

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