Georgia at Kentucky Lines, Free Pick & TV Info

Kentucky was No. 4 in the most recent college basketball polls, but the Cats lost twice last week and thus could fall out of the Top 10 in the new polls. Georgia, meanwhile, is an NCAA Tournament bubble team so a win over a ranked UK squad would only help the Bulldogs’ chances of an at-large bid. However, UGA will be a sizable underdog in Lexington on NCAAB odds.

Georgia at Kentucky Lines, Free Pick & TV Info

Take another look at our win over Texas in the #SECBig12 Challenge. #RaiseTheFlag

>> https://t.co/nubf29VVWE pic.twitter.com/ewsXm52cbe — Georgia Basketball (@UGABasketball) January 29, 2017

When: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 9 PM ET Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky. TV: ESPN Stream: WatchESPN Radio: Georgia / Kentucky Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: UK favored by TBA

Why Bet On Georgia?

The Dawgs (13-9) beat Texas 59-57 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. With a minute remaining, Longhorns guard Andrew Jones sank a 3-pointer to cut the Georgia lead to one point, but on the subsequent possession Bulldogs forward Yante Maten made a contested layup in the paint to extend the lead to three at 59-56. A Texas free throw shortened Georgia’s advantage to two points with 38 seconds remaining but it proved enough as the Bulldogs defense thwarted off the Longhorns in their last attempt. “It really is a good win and we needed one,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “I thought that Texas was obviously a team that was young and they are very, very talented. It just hasn’t clicked for them. So we felt that if we could just calm down in the second half and stay the course, that we could earn a victory. We are really proud of our team that we were able to do that.” Maten’s 21 points and seven rebounds led the Bulldogs attack. The 20-point performance was his eighth of the year and his second consecutive such game of the season. Senior guard J.J. Frazier chipped in 14 points while redshirt junior guard Juwan Parker had nine. Frazier and Maten are the nation’s seventh-best inside-outside scoring combination among teams with two of the top-250 scorers in country … and the only duo from a Power 5 conference. Maten leads Georgia in both scoring (19.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). Among SEC leaders, he is second in scoring and third in rebounding. Maten also ranks second in the league in double-doubles with five. Frazier is contributing 15.6 ppg (No. 7 in the SEC). His team-best averages of 2.1 steals and 4.3 assists rank second and fifth in the SEC.

Why Bet On Kentucky?

The Cats (17-4) lost in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to No. 2 Kansas on Saturday, 79-73. Kentucky was led in scoring by freshman Malik Monk and senior Derek Willis, who each poured in 18 points. Isaiah Briscoe scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and eight boards, while De’Aaron Fox had 10 points. Turnovers played a huge part in the game. Kentucky turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 21 Kansas points. Meanwhile, Kansas had 12 turnovers, but Kentucky was only able to convert those into seven points. Kansas had 44 points in the paint, compared to 34 for Kentucky. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 35-34, but Kansas outscored Kentucky on second-chance points 17-7. Kentucky lost despite holding a 12-point lead in the first half. This was only the fourth loss under Coach John Calipari – first against a nonconference opponent – in which the Wildcats led by at least 10 points. UK is now 204-4 (.981) under Calipari in games leading by at least 10. Kentucky lost back-to- back games for only the eighth time under Calipari. Kentucky is now 36-8 under Calipari (.818) in bounce-back games after losses. This is only the third time in eight years under Calipari that the Wildcats have lost at least two home games (2012-13 and 2013-14) Against the best four teams on its schedule, the Cats are 1-3. When scoring less than 85 points in a game, the Cats are also 1-3. The lone victory in the group came at the Champions Classic in New York way back on Nov. 15 when Kentucky dominated Michigan State 68-49. Since then, Kentucky lost 73-70 at Louisville, 82-80 at Tennessee last Tuesday and then to Kansas. On the flip side, when Kentucky scores at least 85 points, the Cats are 16-1.

Georgia at Kentucky Free Pick: Kentucky Wildcats

Take Kentucky as there’s no way the Cats lose another game at Rupp.