Indiana Hoosiers at Kentucky Wildcats
Saturday, 12/11/10, 5:15 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Kentucky -13.5
Current Betting Line: Kentucky -13
Opening Total: 140
Current Total: 141.5
Indiana will play its first game against a nationally ranked opponent in 2010-11 when it visits No. 16 Kentucky this afternoon in Lexington. The Hoosiers have won seven of eight to begin the season and are coming off a 79-57 win over Savannah State a week ago. The club is hoping to be more competitive in this year’s meeting after suffering lopsided losses the past two years, a 72-54 loss at Lexington in 2008 and a 90-73 defeat at home last season. Head coach Tom Crean also knows that he’s facing a team with an extreme amount of young talent. “I think they are fearless,” he stated. “At Kentucky, the players don’t wait their turn, learn their roles, and worry about it later. They get put to task right away and they are handling their tasks very well.” Indiana is 27-35 ATS over the past three years and currently listed as a double-digit underdog on the college basketball lines page.
The Hoosiers are second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage making 50.5 percent of its field goal attempts and in field goal percentage defense (38.0). In the last three games, Indiana has shot 54.2 percent from the field making 90 of 166 field goal attempts. The team shot 50.9 percent from the floor at Boston College, the first time it had shot over 50 percent in a road game since March 8, 2009, at Wisconsin. A key player in trying to pull off a big-time upset this afternoon will be sophomore Maurice Creek, who had a fractured knee cap lat season. He averaged 16.4 points last year prior to the injury and dropped 31 against Kentucky, which at that point in the season, made him the top freshman scorer in the country.
Kentucky enters with a 6-2 overall record and off an impressive 72-58 win over Notre Dame, returning to Rupp Arena for only the third time in nearly a month to host a border rivalry. The Wildcats held the Irish to 18 points on 20.0 percent shooting in the second half, but they also struggled from the floor in connecting on just 29.6 percent of shots in the final 20 minutes. The team has been held below 41 percent shooting in four of the last five games, but has still managed to overcome the trouble in capturing wins over two ranked opponents over that span. Kentucky is 3-3 ATS this season and 38-34 ATS over the past three years.
The Wildcats have won eight of the last 10 and 13 of the last 16 games in this series. Kentucky is also 93-56 all-time against schools that currently make up the Big Ten Conference. Forward Terrence Jones will lead the squad in Saturday’s meeting and is currently second in the conference in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game. He has also recorded five double-doubles so far this season, ranking first nationally in that category among freshman.
Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Hoosiers are 2-9 ATS as an underdog, while the favorite is 10-1 ATS the last 11 meetings.
The college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports are ready to deliver a huge card on Saturday and can’t wait for you to join in on the fun!
