Kentucky Wildcats vs Oklahoma Sooners Prediction, 2/26/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Oklahoma Sooners

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Location: Lloyd Noble Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: ESPN+

Lloyd Noble Center is where the Oklahoma Sooners (17-10) will go up against the Kentucky Wildcats (18-9) on Wednesday.

The Kentucky Wildcats faced off with Alabama and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 96-83 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 22 and Alabama finished the game with 20 fouls. They also made 11 of their 31 tries from 3-point land. Alabama finished shooting 84.0% from the free throw line by converting 21 of their 25 tries. Furthermore, Alabama pulled down 38 rebounds (7 offensive, 31 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Alabama doled out 14 assists and had 7 steals for the contest. When discussing defense, Kentucky allowed their opponent to shoot 52.5% from the floor on 32 out of 61 shooting. They also recorded 14 assists in this game while forcing 15 turnovers and getting 13 steals. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 32 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats made 16 of their 22 tries for a rate of 72.7%. Kentucky wrapped up the game having earned a 42.6% field goal percentage (29 out of 68) and buried 9 of their 26 shots from distance.

Koby Brea is one player who was a factor in this matchup. He ended up shooting 41.2% from the floor and also recorded 2 dimes. He saw the court for 36 minutes and also grabbed 1 board. He accounted for 20 points on 7 out of 17 shooting.

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Kentucky heads into this one with a record of 18-9 for the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 10.7 times per game and as a group they are committing 17.3 fouls every game. As a team, Kentucky is pulling in 39.1 boards per contest and has totaled 465 assists on the campaign, which is 23rd in the country in terms of passing. The Wildcats are shooting 37.9% on shots from downtown (270 of 713) and 73.7% from the free throw line. They average 85.7 points per contest (3rd in college hoops) while hitting 48.3% from the field.

Defensively, the Wildcats are forcing 10.0 turnovers per game and they draw 17.3 fouls. They rank 126th in the nation in allowing assists to their opponents with 350 surrendered for the campaign. The Wildcats defense is giving up a FG percentage of 42.7% (732 of 1,716) and they concede 35.7 boards per game as a group. They are surrendering 29.3% on three-point shots while they are 304th in the nation in points per game from their opponents (76.4).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Oklahoma Sooners walked away with a victory by a final of 93-87 when they faced Mississippi State. The Sooners were able to snag 23 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards for a total of 30 for the contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while recording 7 steals for the matchup. Mississippi State earned 22 fouls for the matchup which got the Sooners to the free throw line for a total of 34 tries. They were able to bury 24 of the free throws for a clip of 70.6%. In terms of 3-pointers, Oklahoma knocked down 11 out of 26 tries (42.3%). In all, the Sooners finished the game shooting 29 for 55 from the field which had them shooting 52.7%. The Sooners permitted Mississippi State to convert 29 of their 73 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 39.7% in this game. They finished 32.3% from downtown by shooting 10 out of 31 and ended up going 19 of 22 from the free throw line (86.4%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, Oklahoma allowed Mississippi State to grab 41 overall (19 on the offensive glass).

Jeremiah Fears was important for the Sooners in the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 12 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and had 5 rebounds. He recorded 27 points in his 37 mins on the hardwood and had 10 assists for this game.

Oklahoma has a record of 17-10 on the year. The Sooners are committing 18.2 fouls every game and they connect on 78.9% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 13.6 times per game (189th in the nation) and they are turning it over 12.4 times per game. Oklahoma has scored 2,099 pts so far this year (77.7 per game) and they average 32.4 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Sooners are shooting 46.6% from the floor, which ranks them 90th in college hoops.

The Oklahoma defense surrenders 29.9% on shots from beyond the arc (196 of 656) and their opposition knocks down 72.9% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have given up 12.0 dimes and 34.1 boards per game, which ranks 79th and 177th in those defensive categories. The Sooners are ranked 233rd in college in PPG surrendered with 73.5. They have forced 13.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.1% from the field (209th in the country).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oklahoma

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