NCAA Basketball Free Picks: Kentucky Wildcats vs Tennessee Volunteers
Saturday, January 14, 2012
by Frank Martin
After a tough road loss at Mississippi State on Thursday, Tennessee Volunteers hosts a Kentucky Wildcats team that's ranked second in the country and carries an eight-game winning streak into Saturday afternoon's game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
This game should be a showcase for some very talented freshmen. The Kentucky Wildcats once again have a star-studded rookie class headlined by Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Tennessee, meanwhile, has a new addition in mid-term enrollee Jarnell Stokes, who was cleared to play by the Southeastern Conference on Thursday.
- Kentucky Wildcats @ Tennessee Volunteers
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 14, 2012
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
TV: Noon EST, ESPN
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SBG Global Sportsbook currently have the Wildcats listed as 10-point favorites versus the Volunteers.
Kentucky Wildcats (16-1): Wildcats coach John Calipari continues to tinker with his lineup. He started Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist in Wednesday's 68-53 win over Auburn – the first time that combination has started a game this season. Davis has scored in double digits in the past six games and seven of the last eight. He already has 78 blocks this season, just five shy of the program's single-season record for rejections.
Tennessee Volunteers (8-8): Today's game concludes a stretch of three games in eight days, all against ranked foes. Stokes, who graduated from high school in December and immediately enrolled at UT, didn't play in Thursday's 62-58 loss to Mississippi State even though he was declared eligible earlier in the day. The Vols had the ball and a chance to tie the game with MSU in the waning seconds, but Trae Golden slipped and lost the ball, which was stolen away and dunked by the Bulldogs' Dee Bost.
1. Moving F Kenny Hall from the starting lineup has augmented the potency of Tennessee’s bench. Hall has 25 total points in two games in his new role as a reserve, and the Vols’ bench has outscored the opposition in four of its past five games.
2. Kentucky leads the all-time series with Tennessee 146-66, and holds three straight wins over the Vols, dating back to the 2010 SEC Tournament.
3. When the Wildcats claimed the top spot in the national polls earlier this season, John Calipari became just the second coach to lead three different programs to the No. 1 ranking—also reaching such heights with UMass and Memphis. Frank McGuire is the other coach to pull off the feat, doing so with St. John’s, North Carolina and South Carolina.
BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Wildcats 71, Volunteers 63.
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anthony davis - darius miller - frank mcguire - jarnell stokes - john calipari - kenny hall - kentucky wildcats - marquis teague - michael kidd-gilchrist - tennessee volunteers
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