Ohio State Buckeyes vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/21/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2024

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: CBS

The Kentucky Wildcats (10-1) will compete against the Ohio State Buckeyes (7-4) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes took the court against Valparaiso and walked away with a win by a score of 95-73 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Buckeyes finished with 20 and Valparaiso accumulated 22 fouls. They converted 5 of 24 shots from three-point range. Valparaiso finished 87.0% when shooting free throws by making 20 of 23 tries. Additionally, Valparaiso pulled down 31 rebounds (12 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Valparaiso totaled 5 assists and had 2 steals in this matchup. Concerning defense, Ohio State allowed 35.8% from the floor on 24 out of 67 shooting. They also doled out 14 dimes for this contest as well as forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and having 7 steals. Regarding rebounding, they earned 36 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Buckeyes buried 23 of 27 tries for a rate of 85.2%. Ohio State ended the game having earned a 54.1% FG percentage (33 of 61) and knocked down 6 of their 19 shots from beyond the arc.

Devin Royal is a guy who was a major factor in this game. He scored 31 points on 11 of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 33 mins played and also totaled 15 boards. He shot 68.8% from the field but finished the game without an assist.

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Ohio State comes into this one with a record of 7-4 this year. They lose possession via turnover 11.1 times per contest and as a unit are committing 18.2 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Ohio State is pulling down 36.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 167 dimes on the campaign, which ranks 153rd in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Buckeyes are connecting on 40.6% from downtown (99 of 244) and 68.9% from the charity stripe. They average 80.7 points per game (75th in D-1) while connecting on 49.5% from the field.

Defensively, the Buckeyes are forcing their opponents into 11.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.4 fouls. They are conceding 28.5% on 3-point attempts and they are 129th in the nation in points per game allowed (69.1). The Buckeyes defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 38.5% (254 of 660) and they surrender 33.4 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 21st in D-1 in giving up assists with 105 conceded on the year.

The last time they took the court, the Kentucky Wildcats walked away with a victory by a final of 93-85 against Louisville. When it comes to attacking the glass, Kentucky permitted Louisville to get 28 in all (10 on the offensive side). They finished 35.9% from distance by connecting on 14 of 39 and ended up shooting 9 out of 14 at the charity stripe (64.3%). The Wildcats allowed Louisville to make 31 out of their 70 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 44.3% in this contest. When this game wrapped up, the Wildcats ended up shooting 32 out of 55 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 58.2%. When it comes to three-point attempts, Kentucky made 11 out of their 21 attempts (52.4%). They were able to knock down 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 64.3%. Louisville committed 20 personal fouls for the game which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for 28 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while getting 6 steals for the game. The Wildcats recorded 29 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 36 for the matchup.

Lamont Butler ended up having an impact for the Wildcats in the game. He scored 33 points in his 32 mins on the court and added 6 assists for the game. He converted 10 of 10 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 100.0%, and added 3 rebounds.

Kentucky has a mark of 10-1 so far this year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wildcats are shooting 49.5% from the floor, which is ranked 31st in D-1. Kentucky has scored 1,004 pts for the campaign (91.3 per game) and they collect 44.5 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 19.5 times per contest (7th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 9.7 times per contest. The Wildcats commit 15.9 personal fouls per contest and they hit 72.3% from the charity stripe.

The Kentucky defense surrenders 27.5% on 3-point shots (84 of 305) and opponents are connecting on 69.0% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 11.9 dimes and 36.3 boards every game, ranking them 104th and 274th in college hoops. The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 197th in college hoops in PPG given up with 71.6. They are able to force 10.4 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 39.4% from the floor (47th in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kentucky

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