Auburn Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview, Matchup Stats
The unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats can extend their best start in school history and cover the spread for the third straight game in the process with another big home victory Saturday when they host the Auburn Tigers in an SEC matchup.
The Wildcats have won their first 26 games this season, including a 13-0 record in conference play, and last lost to the Connecticut Huskies 60-54 in the 2014 national championship game. However, they had failed to beat the spread in five straight games this year prior to routing the South Carolina Gamecocks and Tennessee Volunteers by a combined 52 points.
Kentucky has tightened up its defense lately, holding South Carolina and Tennessee to an average of 45.5 points in the past two games, both of which went under the total on the college basketball betting lines. Strong defense seems to be the key to the team beating the number, as the under is a remarkable 12-1 in its 13 covers overall this season.
The Wildcats are 13-12-1 against the spread this year after going 14-14-1 ATS last season en route to a 22-9 straight-up mark before March Madness. They then proceeded to go 7-1-1 ATS and 7-2 SU during the 2014 SEC and NCAA tournaments, with the lone losses coming in the title games of each event.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are a long shot to make the Big Dance this season heading into their matchup with the Wildcats, as they have a losing record after dropping seven of their past nine games to go along with a 4-5 mark ATS. They have struggled to hold their opponents in check defensively during that stretch, giving up an average of 78 points per game in the seven losses, with the over going 6-1.
Auburn will be attempting to break a dismal 16-game series losing streak against Kentucky, last topping the Wildcats 66-63 at home back in 2000. The Tigers, though, are 5-2 ATS despite losing each of the previous seven meetings, according to the OddsShark college basketball database, staying within 10 points in the past two.
The previous 10 home matchups for Kentucky in the series have all resulted in wins and been decided by an average of 17 points. In addition, the under has cashed in the last eight meetings overall.
Odds info courtesy of OddsShark.com.
