Utes vs. Wildcats Prediction
The Utah Utes will take on the sixth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats tonight in the neutral setting of Las Vegas. Which side will cover the spread and make bettors happy?
Game Snapshot
685 Kentucky Wildcats vs. 686 Utah Utes
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
T-Mobile Arena at 11PM ET
TV: ESPN2
Compare odds from multiple different online sportsbooks and shop for the best lines at our NCAA Basketball Odds & Betting Page
According to oddsmakers, the Wildcats are an 11-point favorite on the spread line. The total sits at 139 points. As of Wednesday morning, 72 percent of public bets are siding with Utah. Check out our College Basketball Public Betting Page for the latest updates.
Utes win fourth straight
Utah secured a 60-49 win Saturday over Weber State in the Beehive Classic in Salt Lake City. The Utes (8-2) led 31-25 at halftime and continued to pull away after the break. Timmy Allen paced Utah with 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting plus 7-of-7 at the free throw line. He also registered seven rebounds and four assists. Riley Battin contributed nine points, 10 boards and two assists. Branden Carlson tallied nine points, eight caroms and two blocked shots. Mikael Jantunen added nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Wildcats down Yellowjackets
Kentucky earned a 67-53 home victory Saturday against Georgia Tech to improve to 8-1 overall and 7-1 at home. The Wildcats outscored the Yellow Jackets 31-23 in the second half to put it away. Ashton Hagans led Kentucky with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting including 2-of-3 from 3-point distance plus 3-of-4 at the charity stripe. He also recorded seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Immanuel Quickley tallied 16 points, three boards, two assists and two steals. Nick Richards accounted for 12 points, four caroms and four blocked shots. Keion Brooks Jr. added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.
College Basketball Betting Trends
Utah
The Utes are 16-7 ATS in their last 23 Wednesday games. Utah is 5-11-1 ATS in its last 17 neutral site games.
Kentucky
The Wildcats are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Wednesday games. Kentucky is 2-5 ATS in its last seven games as a favorite.
Prediction:
This is a neutral site game, but the Utes are not even quite as good as the Georgia Tech squad the Wildcats faced at home in their last contest. Where Kentucky is very strong defensively, that is the main area of struggle for Utah. So if Kentucky is limiting baskets due to its elite defense while also having an easier time scoring against a soft defense, I like its chances to cover the double-digit spread here.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: KENTUCKY WILDCATS -11