Arkansas Razorbacks vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 3/2/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Arkansas Razorbacks vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN+

The Kentucky Wildcats (20-8) will go up against the Arkansas Razorbacks (14-14) at Rupp Arena on Saturday.

The Arkansas Razorbacks faced Vanderbilt and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 85-82 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Razorbacks finished with 23 while Vanderbilt totaled 23 fouls. They also converted 4 of their 16 attempts from beyond the arc. Vanderbilt finished 71.9% from the charity stripe by knocking down 23 of their 32 attempts. Additionally, Vanderbilt pulled down 33 boards (7 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Vanderbilt earned 7 dimes and had 6 steals for the matchup. In reference to defending, Arkansas allowed their opponent to shoot 50.9% from the floor on 29 out of 57 shooting. They also doled out 12 assists for the game while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and having 4 steals. Pertaining to pulling down rebounds, they compiled 30 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Razorbacks converted 26 of 31 attempts for a percentage of 83.9%. Arkansas walked away from the game with a 40.4% FG percentage (23 out of 57) and made 10 out of their 30 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Khalif Battle is a player who was a factor in the game. He racked up 36 points on 9 of 17 shooting. He played 39 mins played and also snagged 6 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 52.9% from the floor and also dished out 3 assists.

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Arkansas will enter this contest with a win-loss mark of 14-14 for the campaign. They average 75.9 points per game (112th in the country) while shooting 44.3% from the floor. The Razorbacks are connecting on 32.0% on shots from 3-point land (171 of 534) and 73.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Arkansas is pulling down 34.9 boards per game and is sitting with 321 dimes for the campaign, which is 313th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.7 times per game and as a group are committing 19.9 fouls per game.

Defensively, the Razorbacks are able to force 11.0 turnovers per game while drawing 21.2 fouls. They rank 146th in college hoops in allowing assists with 352 conceded on the year. The Razorbacks defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 43.6% (747 of 1,713) and they surrender 36.6 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are giving up 34.1% on 3-point shots and they are 324th in college basketball in points per game allowed (77.9).

In their last game, the Kentucky Wildcats went home victorious with a score of 91-89 when they played Mississippi State. With respect to cleaning up the glass, Kentucky permitted Mississippi State to pull down 31 in all (11 offensive). They finished 44.0% from distance by shooting 11 out of 25 and ended up going 12 of 17 from the free throw line (70.6%). The Wildcats permitted Mississippi State to make 33 of their 64 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.6% in the matchup. When the game finished, the Wildcats walked away from this one shooting 33 out of 60 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 55.0%. In terms of 3-point shots, Kentucky knocked down 10 of their 30 attempts (33.3%). They were able to make 15 of the free throws for a clip of 88.2%. Mississippi State was called for 17 personal fouls in the game which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 17 attempts. They also turned it over 10 times, while recording 9 steals in this matchup. The Wildcats were able to pull down 19 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 24 for the matchup.

Reed Sheppard ended up being a major contributor for the Wildcats for the matchup. He buried 11 out of 14 in this contest giving him a rate of 78.6%, and tallied 5 rebounds. He earned 32 points in his 36 minutes on the court and accumulated 7 dimes for this contest.

Kentucky has a mark of 20-8 so far this season. As an offensive team, the Wildcats are shooting 49.5% from the field, which is 9th in college basketball. Kentucky has totaled 2,486 points for the year (88.8 per contest) and they collect 37.4 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 17.3 times per contest (16th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 10.2 times per contest. The Wildcats are responsible for committing 17.1 fouls every game while shooting 76.6% from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 330th in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 78.3. They are able to force 12.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 42.6% from the floor (120th in college basketball). The Kentucky defense allows 32.4% on three-point shots (235 of 726) and opponents are connecting on 70.8% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 14.6 assists and 37.2 rebounds per contest, which has them ranked 310th and 305th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Arkansas

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