The Auburn Tigers will look for the season sweep when they take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a SEC matchup Saturday on CBS. The Tigers (11-10, 5-7), who are tied for eighth in the SEC with Mississippi State, have lost three of their past four games. Auburn is coming off a 73-67 win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. The Wildcats (5-13, 4-7), who are 11th in the conference, have lost four in a row and seven of the past eight. They dropped an 81-80 decision to Arkansas on Tuesday.
Tip-off from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., is set for 1 p.m. ET. Kentucky leads the all-time series 95-22, including a 49-2 edge in games played at Lexington. The Wildcats are 1.5-point favorites in the latest Auburn vs. Kentucky odds from William Hill Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is set at 145.5. Before making any Kentucky vs. Auburn picks, check out the college basketball predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of almost $2,400 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Kentucky vs. Auburn. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds and trends for Auburn vs. Kentucky:
- Auburn vs. Kentucky spread: Kentucky -1.5
- Auburn vs. Kentucky over-under: 145.5 points
- AU: The Tigers are third in the SEC and 35th in the nation at 9.2 3-pointers per game
- UK: The Wildcats have never lost more than four in a row under coach John Calipari and have never lost three in a row in 45 seasons at Rupp Arena
Why Kentucky can cover
Freshman guard Brandon Boston Jr. paces the Kentucky offense, averaging a team-high 11.9 points per game. He has a team-high 13 double-figure scoring games, including a 17-point effort with four 3-pointers against Arkansas on Tuesday. He also registered a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds vs. Richmond on Nov. 29. He scored 18 points in back-to-back games against Georgia and LSU. For the season, he is also averaging 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr., who missed the first nine games of the season with a left leg injury, is second on the team in scoring at 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in seven of nine games since his return. He recorded his first career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds against Tennessee on Feb. 6. He became just the third player in the Calipari era with at least 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. He played in 31 games with six starts and five double-figure scoring games last year.
Why Auburn can cover
Freshman guard Sharife Cooper is making a good first impression and leads the Tigers in scoring at 20.2 points per game. He is also averaging 8.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He has posted three double-doubles and has played and started in 10 games. He has scored or assisted on 48 percent of Auburn's points since entering the lineup. Cooper is one of only three freshmen nationally to score 25 or more points at least four times this season.
Also leading Auburn is sophomore guard Allen Flanigan, who is averaging 13.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, three assists and one steal per game. He is connecting on 46.5 percent of his field goals, including 35.4 percent from 3-point range. He has started in all 21 games and has scored in double figures in 19 of the team's 21 games. His best scoring game was a 24-point performance against South Carolina on Jan. 23. In the Jan. 16 victory over Kentucky, he scored 21.
How to make Auburn vs. Kentucky picks
The model is leaning under on the total, projecting both teams combine for 145 points. It has also generated an against-the-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Auburn vs. Kentucky? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks.
