Kentucky and Kansas State will meet for the first time since a 2008 Kentucky victory on Friday as those schools battle in the 8 vs. 9 matchup in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky was favored by 6 Thursday as bettors backed the KU Wildcats over the KSU Wildcats. The spread had climbed at Sportsbook (where a cool Fracebook bracket buster game was offering big gauaranteed prizes) while the total was hovering around 132.5 over at Sportsbook.
Some trends to consider for Wildcat bettors and Midwest Region bracket pickers, the UNDER is 8-3 past 11 games when Kentucky is favored; Kentucky 7-1-1 ATS past nine tournament games; Kansas State ended year on 2-6 ATS run; Kansas State 2-8 SU past 10 games as underdogs and Kansas State is 4-1 ATS past five first-round games.
Odds Shark computer pick - 72.9-68.0 Kentucky
The Wildcats sport a record of 24-10 and 17-14-1 ATS heading into this battle, while the Wildcats have 20-12 and 17-13 ATS marks on the season. The OVER/UNDER records are 15-17 for the Wildcats and 12-18 for the Wildcats.
View Kansas State Wildcats vs Kentucky Wildcats Odds and Stats.
This game puts the Wildcats, most recently No. 86 in the Odds Shark power rankings, up against the Wildcats, who rate No. 168 in the latest survey.
Kansas State lost its last outing, a 91-85 result against Iowa State on March 13. They failed to cover in that game as a 3.5-point underdog. The Wildcats endured a 91-85 loss at the hands of the Cyclones on Thursday, despite a 21-point effort from Marcus Foster at Sprint Center.
Kentucky was a 61-60 loser in their most recent outing on the road against Florida. They covered the 6.5-point spread as underdogs. Aaron Harrison scored 16 points in a futile effort to lead the Wildcats to a win (they lost 61-60 to Florida at Georgia Dome on Sunday).
How They Match Up:
Scoring and defensive stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Kentucky's No. 44-ranked scoring average of 75.91 PPG, against a Wildcats defense rated No. 51 and allowing 65.72 PPG. The Wildcats FG% has averaged 45.12% to date this season, more than the Wildcats shooters have managed so far (43.59% per game).
A few Wildcats at Wildcats trends to consider:
Kansas State is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games
Kansas State is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Kansas State's last 6 games
Kentucky is 16-7 SU in its last 23 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kentucky's last 7 games
