Kentucky vs Alabama prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Saturday, February 5
Kentucky vs Alabama How To Watch
Date: Saturday, February 5
Game Time: 8:00 ET
Venue: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Kentucky (18-4), Alabama (14-8)
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Kentucky vs Alabama Game Preview
Why Kentucky Will Win
Which Alabama is Kentucky going to get?
Will it be the one that was so brilliant against Baylor – hitting almost 60% from the field and coming up with a terrific, focused game – or will it be the one that couldn’t shoot a lick late against Auburn and was hit for 30 fouls?
But that’s Auburn – losing to the No. 1 team in the country isn’t a big deal, but struggling against Georgia?
Alabama fouls way too much, it doesn’t do enough from three, and it has a horrendous turnover problem in its fast-paced style of attack. It’s a volume-shooting team from the outside that misses a whole lot, but makes up for it with a ton of offensive rebounds.
There’s one giant problem with that – those offensive boards aren’t going to be there against a Kentucky team that’s one of the best in the nation on the glass.
Why Alabama Will Win
Kentucky has a way of going cold for stretches.
It doesn’t do a whole lot from the outside, and it leads the SEC in field goal percentage, but when it’s off, forget it.
It fought way too hard against Vanderbilt because it couldn’t seem to do enough inside. It made up for it on the free throw line.
It went cold in the loss to LSU, it had a hard time doing much of anything against Texas A&M, and now it’s up to Alabama to create the funk.
Kentucky is as high-scoring and as fun as anyone in the country. Alabama has to start hitting those threes early to put the pressure on the Wildcats to start doing more from the outside. However …
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What’s Going To Happen
Kentucky is 1) strong at guarding the three, and 2) doesn’t lose just because other teams are hitting from the outside.
The Wildcats are 5-0 when the opponent make 40% or more from three. What can’t happen against the Tide is to go cold.
As long as UK is doing what it does to get to the rim in and up-and-down game – it’s 10-0 when making more than 50% of its shots – it’ll be fine in a wild and fun shootout.
Kentucky vs Alabama Prediction, Lines
Kentucky 84, Alabama 80
Line: Kentucky -1.5, o/u: 157.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 4
5: One week off before the Super Bowl
1: Two weeks off before the Super Bowl
