Kentucky Five Games From Undefeated Regular Season
College basketball’s No. 1 team the Kentucky Wildcats hosts the Auburn Tigers in an SEC showdown Saturday evening. The Wildcats are very aware that each of its final five opponents in the SEC wants to be the team that knocks them off their undefeated perch.
To prevent that from happening, Kentucky will have to play even better than they have, especially when it comes to finishing off an opponent.
Kentucky is 26-0 overall and 13-0 in the SEC. The Wildcats have withstood the onslaught from each of their previous 26 opponents.
Kentucky’s opponent on Saturday the Auburn Tigers are 12-14 overall and 4-9 in the SEC.
Kentucky is coming off a 66-48 win at Tennessee on Tuesday. The Wildcats head coach John Calipari said the team regrouped well after struggling early in the game.
With just five regular season games left the Wildcats toughest opponent on paper would appear to be the Arkansas Razorbacks the No. 18 ranked team in the nation, which has defeated the Wildcats three straight times. The Wildcats must also face Florida again, which lost a tough battle 68-61 just two weeks ago to the Wildcats.
However, first things first and that means trying not to lose concentration in a game everyone expects them to win by double digits, as they have defeated Auburn in 16 straight head to head matchups.
To counter what is expected to be a strong challenge from Auburn, Calipari has been working to exploit the big size advantage his players have in each of the two-platoon squads he usually on a regular rotating basis.
He also said close wins show poise by his players, but he wants to start winning games by bigger margins.
That message seems to be working. Kentucky routed South Carolina last weekend by 34 points and Tennessee during the week by 18 points.
Auburn has lost three of its past four games overall after losing at home 79-68 to Alabama. At Kentucky, Auburn has lost 43 of its 45 games all-time.
Auburn is just 5-20 straight up in its past 25 road games.
Auburn is 0-5 straight up in its past 5 games at Kentucky.
The UNDER has cashed in 5 of the past 7 games Auburn has played against Kentucky on the road.
Kentucky is 26-0 straight up over its past 26 games.
The Wildcats are 2-5 against the number in their past 7 games.
The total has been UNDER in 14 of the past 19 games Kentucky has played at home.
Kentucky is 2-5 against the number in its past 7 games versus Auburn. The Wildcats are 1-4 ATS over their past 5 games played at home versus Auburn.
Pick: Kentucky 75-49
