Louisville Cardinals vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/14/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Saturday, December 14, 2024

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN+

The Kentucky Wildcats (9-1) are welcoming the Louisville Cardinals (6-4) at Rupp Arena on Saturday.

The Louisville Cardinals faced off with UTEP and earned the victory with a final of 77-74 in their last contest. Louisville wrapped up the contest with a 39.7% FG percentage (23 out of 58) and made 6 of their 34 shots from distance. At the free throw line, the Cardinals buried 25 of 34 tries for a percentage of 73.5%. With respect to pulling down rebounds, they collected a total of 39 with 16 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 13 dimes for the matchup as well as forcing 15 turnovers and earning 9 steals. With respect to the defense, Louisville allowed the other team to shoot 50.9% from the field on 29 of 57 shooting. UTEP recorded 9 assists and had 7 steals for the game. Additionally, UTEP grabbed 27 boards (5 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't notch a block. UTEP finished 63.6% when shooting free throws by knocking down 7 of 11 tries. They converted 9 of their 20 attempts from long range. When it comes to fouls, the Cardinals finished with 13 while UTEP totaled 27 fouls.

Terrence Edwards is a guy who played a role for the game. He ended up shooting 46.2% from the floor and also distributed 1 assist. He was on the hardwood for 30 minutes and pulled down 3 boards. He accumulated 22 points on 6 out of 13 shooting.

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Louisville will play this contest with a win-loss mark of 6-4 for the year. They lose possession via turnover 13.1 times per contest and as a squad they commit 16.7 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Louisville is grabbing 38.8 rebounds per contest and has 135 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 198th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Cardinals are shooting 27.0% on 3-pointers (86 of 318) and 71.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 76.1 pts per game (181st in D-1) while connecting on 42.5% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Cardinals are forcing their opponents into 15.5 turnovers per game and they draw 20.8 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 108th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 113 surrendered on the year. The Cardinals defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.1% (247 of 573) and they relinquish 34.1 rebounds per contest as a group. They surrender 33.9% on 3-point attempts and they rank 127th in college basketball in PPG allowed (68.7).

When they last played, the Kentucky Wildcats got the victory with a final of 78-67 when they played Colgate. In the matter of cleaning the glass, Kentucky permitted Colgate to get 34 overall (7 on the offensive side). They finished 33.3% from three-point range by going 11 of 33 and finished the contest at 2 of 3 from the charity stripe (66.7%). The Wildcats allowed Colgate to make 27 of 66 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.9% in this matchup. At the conclusion of this game, the Wildcats finished the game shooting 30 out of 70 from the floor which had them shooting 42.9%. With respect to three-point attempts, Kentucky made 10 out of their 31 attempts (32.3%). They were able to knock down 8 of those for a percentage of 61.5%. Colgate was called for 11 personal fouls in this contest which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 13 tries. They coughed up the ball 5 times, while getting 6 steals in this matchup. The Wildcats collected 28 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards for a total of 41 for the contest.

Koby Brea ended up having an impact for the Wildcats for this contest. He made 6 out of 12 for this game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and tallied 5 rebounds. He tallied 17 points in his 33 minutes on the court, but didn't get an assist.

Kentucky has a win-loss mark of 9-1 so far this year. As an offensive unit, the Wildcats are connecting on 48.7% from the floor, which is 46th in D-1. Kentucky has scored 911 pts this season (91.1 per game) and they collect 44.8 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 19.1 times per game (11th in college basketball) and they turn it over 9.6 times per game. The Wildcats commit 15.7 personal fouls every game and they shoot 73.4% from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats defensively are ranked 166th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 70.3. They are forcing their opponents into 10.7 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 38.8% from the field (42nd in college hoops). The Kentucky defense allows 26.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (70 of 266) and their opponents are making 69.4% of their foul shots. They concede 12.3 dimes and 36.8 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 133rd and 278th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Kentucky

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