In a state rivalry game, the Norse of Northern Kentucky will take on the Kentucky Wildcats Friday. This game is between the 15th seed and the 2nd seed, and will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the Dayton and Wichita State game. The Northern Kentucky Norse are 24-10, and are winners of the Horizon Conference Tournament.
The Kentucky Wildcats are the 2nd seed, and come into the game with a 29-5 record. Kentucky won the conference in the regular season and the postseason tournament. The Wildcats have won 11 straight games. The Kentucky Wildcats come into the game -19.5 over the Northern Kentucky Norse on Friday night. Find the updated NCAA betting odds here.
In Depth Analysis On The Norse Vs Wildcats Odds, Betting Pick & TV Info
When: Friday, March 17, 2017
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV: CBS
Stream Option: CBS Sports Network
Odds: Kentucky -19.5
Why Bet on Kentucky
John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats are playing their best basketball at the right time of the season. In January, the Wildcats fell in three out of four games. In four out of the five losses for Kentucky this season were to NCAA Tournament teams. The Wildcats last loss came on the road at the Florida Gators.
Freshman Malik Monk is the top scorer for the Wildcats. He is scoring 20.4 points per game. De’Aaron Fox is also adding 16 points per game, and dishing out 5 assists. The Wildcats are 5th in the nation, scoring 86.1 points per game. This is the 57th NCAA Tournament trip for the Kentucky Wildcats in school history.
Why Bet on Northern Kentucky
The Northern Kentucky Norse are going to play in their first NCAA tournament in school history. The Norse have won 10 out of their last 11 games. They finished third in the Horizon Conference behind Oakland and Valparaiso, but ran the table in the conference tournament. During the non-conference slate, the Norse lost to Illinois, Austin Peay and West Virginia.
The top scorer for Northern Kentucky this season has been Drew McDonald. The forward is scoring more than 16 points per game. Lavone Holland II is scoring 14.3 points per game as well for the Norse. Northern Kentucky ranks 83rd in all of college basketball in rebounding, with 37.6 per game.
Expert Pick & Score Prediction
This is a pretty large point spread. The Northern Kentucky Norse are playing well enough that they should be able to cover the spread in this game. The Norse are going to have to make shots, and certainly must take care of the basketball. If Northern Kentucky turns it over a bunch, this game will get ugly.
John Calipari and his Wildcats are going to win this game. There is no real scare of a complete upset, but look for this game to stay closer than the Las Vegas betting lines say. The final bet for this game is the Northern Kentucky Norse +20 over the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday.
