Indiana Kentucky Line has Wildcats as -9.5 Favorite
Carrie Stroup here with the Indiana Kentucky line was coming in at Wildcats -9.5.
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Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Kentucky -9.5 & 144.5
Opening Line & Total: Wildcats -9 & 145.5
Indiana will look beat top-seeded Kentucky for the second time this season and advance to the Elite Eight in the process when the teams duel in a rematch Friday night in Atlanta.
Kentucky is surprisingly favored by nearly double-digits despite having lost to this team earlier in the year. That loss came even though the Wildcats shot 55.6% from the field. Although the Hoosiers have some bad losses on their résumé, they have proven to be giant killers with wins against the Wildcats, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan, among others. Kentucky has been terrible ATS this year (14-21) and has beaten the lines just once in its past five games. Indiana has won five of its past seven ATS and has consistently won as underdogs all year (6-3 ATS). The Hoosiers, who are also 10-5 ATS on 3+ days of rest and 10-5 ATS after an ATS win, have the ability to shoot lights out. They are sixth in the nation in shooting (49.1% FG) and second in the country in three-point accuracy (43.7%). That will keep them competitive against anybody, even the physically imposing Wildcats.
Indiana’s deep offensive attack was led by Christian Watford (12.2 PPG) to get to the Sweet 16 with a 16-point performance on 4-of-5 shooting from deep to barely escape past 12th-seeded VCU, 63-61. The team’s leading scorer Cody Zeller (15.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG) also notched 16 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds against the Rams. The 6-foot-11 freshman was limited to just 11 points by Kentucky the last time the two teams faced off and will have another tough fight against Anthony Davis in the post. Jordan Hulls (11.7 PPG, 3.2 APG, 2.0 3PG) is a key threat from deep for this team while fellow guard Victor Oladipo (10.7 PPG) is more of a threat driving in the paint.
Kentucky’s squad of future NBA stars will be unstoppable if point guard Marquis Teague (9.9 PPG, 4.8 APG) continues to play like he did against Iowa State in the Round of 32. The usually quiet guard scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting and dropped seven assists, leading the Wildcats to their 16-point victory. But even if he cannot follow up that performance, Kentucky has a deep squad of stars who can pick up the slack. Anthony Davis (14.3 PPG, 10.1 PPG, 4.6 BPG) leads the team in all three of those categories and makes shots at a ridiculous 63.6% clip (third in nation). Doron Lamb (13.4 PPG, 47% 3-pt FG) is a sharpshooter with seven threes in his two NCAA tournament games, posting two 16-point performances. Terrence Jones (12.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (11.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG) are strong rebounders who can also get hot from near the hoop.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
