Ole Miss vs Kentucky Betting Analysis and Pick for SEC Men’s Basketball rivalry

Kentucky is on its first-ever three-game losing streak at Rupp Arena, which opened in 1976. The Cats look to put an end to that skid on Tuesday as they host a good Ole Miss team in SEC action with UK as a solid favorite on the NCAAB odds. 2024 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis Ole Miss vs. #22 Kentucky | MyBookie Sportsbook Week 15 NCAAB

How to Bet Ole Miss at Kentucky NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET
Where: Rupp Arena
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Kentucky -9 (total 164.5)

Ole Miss vs Kentucky Last Meeting

This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams this season. Last season they also played just once and Kentucky won 75-66 in Oxford. Antonio Reeves had 27 points off the bench to lead UK. Oscar Tshiebwe had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Jacob Toppin scored 18 points for the Cats in the win. A 43-point second half, highlighted by a 12-for-12 line on free throws, kept Kentucky in front. Amaree Abram led Ole Miss with 17 points. TJ Caldwell had 12 points. Kentucky leads the series 110-14 all-time and has won two in a row. John Calipari is 18-5 vs. Ole Miss, including 14-2 at UK. The Rebels’ two victories playing in Kentucky’s home arena came in 1998, and in the second game of the series back in 1927.

Why Bet on Ole Miss Rebels?

Ole Miss (18-5, 5-5 SEC) is an NCAA Tournament bubble team thanks to back-to-back losses. The Rebs last took the court on Feb. 6 and were beaten 68-65 at No. 15 South Carolina. It looked as if USC had this one in hand in the second half, ahead 53-36 on B.J. Mack‘s basket with 15:41 to go.

But the Rebels, behind Allen Flanigan, went on a 24-9 run over the next 12 minutes and cut it to 62-60. But USC’s Mules Stute followed with his fourth 3-pointer and Collin Murray-Boyles, a freshman, took an inside pass from Josh Gray to extend the lead.

When it looked as if 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp had a can’t miss basket with 1:20 to go, Murray-Boyles, 10 inches shorter, rose up to knock the shot away. Mississippi cut it to 68-65 on Flanigan’s inside layup with 38 seconds left. It had a final chance after Meechie Johnson‘s long 3 clanged away, but Matthew Murrell’s running 3 attempt was way off the mark.

The Rebels defense held the Gamecocks to just 25 points in the second half. Returning to action after missing the last game due to illness, Sharp scored six points and swatted a trio of shots, the 11th time he’s posted three or more blocks in a game this season.

Ole Miss ranks sixth in college basketball averaging 6.1 blocks per game. Sharp leads the SEC in blocks per game (2.59) and total blocks (57), ranking seventh in the nation in each category. With 139 blocks through 23 games, Ole Miss is on pace to challenge the program record for blocks in a season of 185 set during the 2012-13 season. Sharp has also already entered the top-10 for most blocks in a single season at Ole Miss with his 57.

Flanigan led the team in scoring with 26 points Saturday, tied for the second-most he’s made this season. Scoring 17 points, Murrell collected nine rebounds to tie his career-best, connecting on three makes from beyond the arc for the third game in a row.

Jaylen Murray has been on fire from the three-point line this season, especially as of late. In 11 of the last 13 games, “Juju” has connected on two or more threes, sinking 36 total buckets on 79 attempts from beyond the arc. He is averaging 14.3 points on the season and shooting 42.5 percent from three.

Ole Miss has shown elite ball control and movement on the offensive side. With a total of 362 assists compared to 234 turnovers, the Rebels’ ratio of 1.55 ranks 24th in the nation. The team is led in assists by Murray (93 assists to 37 turnovers), who ranks fourth in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.51) and seventh in assists per game (4.04).

Bet Ole Miss to Win
MyBookie Betting Lines for NCAAB

Why Bet on Kentucky Wildcats?

Kentucky (16-7, 6-4 SEC) played a non-conference game Saturday and was upset at home by Gonzaga, 89-85. Anton Watson scored 17 points, including a go-ahead three-point play with 3:49 remaining before adding two key layups in the final 91 seconds, Ben Gregg and Nolan Hickman sank key late free throws to lead the Zags.

Graham Ike scored a team-high 23 points before fouling out with 43 seconds left, Hickman had 17 and Braden Huff 12 as Gonzaga edged Kentucky 47% to 46% shooting. The Bulldogs did most of their damage near the basket, outscoring the Wildcats 50-40 in the paint and beating them 43-31 in rebounding, including 18 offensive boards. Gonzaga was almost perfect from the free-throw line after halftime, making 18 of 19 attempts and 21 of 24 overall.

Reed Sheppard scored 21 points, all in the second half, to lead UK. Sheppard, the SEC leader in steals, had two steals and has had at least two thefts in 18 of 23 games. Antonio Reeves scored 17 points and Adou Thiero had 15 for the Cats, who rallied from a double-digit deficit to take a second-half lead, only to see Gonzaga take the game away late. The Zags got 50 points in the paint, where Ike owned the Wildcats, and outrebounded Kentucky 43-31.

After missing three games because of an ankle injury, D.J. Wagner returned to action. Tre Mitchell missed the second game in a row because of injury. Kentucky has not had any game this season with all players available. Eight players have missed a total of 48 games because of injury, illness or other reasons. Among regular players, Reeves, Sheppard and Jordan Burks are the only ones who have been available every game.

Prior to Saturday, the last time Kentucky dropped back-to-back-to-back home contests was 1966, when Hall of Famer Adolph Rupp still roamed the sideline. And the Wildcats still played at Memorial Coliseum. In December 1966, they lost to Illinois, North Carolina and Florida. Rupp is the same coach who once led UK to the longest home winning streak in NCAA history: 129 straight from 1943 to 1955.

The Wildcats’ previous home losses this season were a 103-92 shootout against No. 6 Tennessee and a 94-91 upset by Florida. Add a 105-96 win over Georgia before the streak, and Kentucky has allowed an average of 95.5 points in its past four home games. John Calipari is now 332-69 against unranked opponents while at Kentucky, including 118-9 against unranked foes in Rupp Arena.

“You walk into this building and it’s packed like it’s been for three games … we just normally come out on fire. And we just haven’t,” Coach Cal said. “I want to tell our fans how much I appreciate what they are doing for this team — or what they are trying to do. I would just say stick with them.”

One of the elite offenses in all of college basketball, the Cat lead the NCAA in three-point shooting percentage at 41.0, and average the third-most points per game in the nation at 89.5. Kentucky’s team shooting percentage from the field of 49.1 this year ranks No. 16 in the country, leading to 17.7 assists per game, which ranks 13th in the NCAA.

Bet Knetucky to Win
MyBookie Betting Lines for NCAAB

Ole Miss vs Kentucky Expert Prediction

Kentucky 83, Ole Miss 76

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