A sizzling SEC battle is on tap Tuesday night as the Georgia Bulldogs host the Kentucky Wildcats at 9 p.m. ET from Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. The 12-3 Wildcats are on a roll, having won five of their last six games. The 9-6 Bulldogs were hammered last Saturday at Auburn and are 1-2 in conference play, but will have a rowdy crowd supporting them. Sportsbooks list the Wildcats as seven-point road favorites in the latest Kentucky vs. Georgia odds. The Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 147. Before you make any Kentucky vs. Georgia picks or college basketball predictions, check out what SportsLine's advanced computer model has to say.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has raked in the winnings for those following its picks. Over the past two years, the SportsLine Projection Model has returned over $5,200 to $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks. And it enters Week 11 of the 2018-19 college basketball season on a strong 22-8 run on all its top-rated picks. Anybody who has been following it is way up.
Now the model has dialed in on Kentucky vs. Georgia. We can tell you it's leaning Over, but it has also generated a point-spread pick that is cashing in well over 50 percent of simulations. That pick is available only at SportsLine.
The model has taken into account that John Calipari and Kentucky thrive on defense and transition offense. Freshman guard Ashton Hagans is an outstanding defender on the ball with lightning-fast hands. In limited action, he's averaging a team-high 2.1 steals per game. Over the Wildcats' previous five games, Hagans has notched 22 swipes, including eight in a victory over North Carolina.
Freshman guard Keldon Johnson is the team's leading scorer at 15.5 points per contest. He's also corralling over five boards each time out while knocking down 3-balls at a 40 percent clip. Tyler Herro, another frosh guard, is scoring 13.1 points per game.
But just because the Wildcats are coming in hot doesn't mean they'll cover the Kentucky vs. Georgia spread, especially considering the home team has covered in 10 of the last 13 meetings.
Georgia relies heavily on big man Nicolas Claxton. The 6-foot-11 sophomore is among the national leaders in blocks with an astounding 3.3 per game. He's also tops on the team in rebounds with 9.5 and nets nearly 13 points per game. Opponents shooting in the lane against Claxton rarely find success and he wreaks havoc by forcing errant attempts.
On offense, Rayshaun Hammonds is usually the focal point, especially when Georgia is in desperate need of a bucket. He's the Bulldogs' leading scorer at 13.9 per game and connects on 51 percent of his shots from the field. He's deadly from beyond the arc, knocking down 42 percent of his attempts and connects on 84 percent of his free throws.
Who wins Kentucky vs. Georgia? And which side of the spread can you bank on well over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Georgia vs. Kentucky spread you need to jump on, all from the advanced model that is up more than $5,200 on its college basketball picks the past two years.
