Bluegrass Bragging Rights on the Line in Cards vs Cats
The Kentucky Wildcats will take on the Louisville Cardinals tonight in Sweet Sixteen action in what promises to be quite a game. It will be the second time in three seasons these two have met in the NCAA Tournament. These two teams also account for the last two NCAA championships. The winner tonight will be only one win shy of getting back to the Final Four with a shot at getting the Bluegrass State its third straight national championship.
The defending champion Cardinals should be grateful for having the #8 knock off the #1 seed for them in the Round of 32. But not when that #8 is the extremely large and talented Wildcats. UK did not shock anyone by beating the Wichita State Shockers in what was a whale of a game. They were just as good as the Shockers which shows that while they struggled at times and earned a #8 seed, they have #1 seed talent.
Louisville also has #1 talent and many were very surprised tbey were assigned a #4 after winning the AAC regular season title and the AAC Tournament. If the NCAA Tournament felt the conference was weak, they did not show it as they invited the UConn Huskies, who are still alive and well in the Sweet Sixteen, the Memphis Tigers, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. That’s more teams than the SEC got in. So why did the Cards only get a #4 seed?
Kentucky won the previous meeting at Rupp Arena back in December 73-66. What does that mean now? Not much other than we know UK has the capability of beating the Cardinals.
Key players to watch:
Louisville- Russ Smith, the senior point guard who is also a prolific scorer when he needs to be. “Russdiculous” can be terrific if he has one of those days where he is in the zone. Luke Hancock, last year’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player is money if he gets open behind the arc. He also hits them at the biggest moments.
Kentucky- Julius Randle is a beast in the paint. A sure fire NBA Lottery pick, he can dominate down low. He is an offensive rebounding machine and a double double waiting to happen. Andrew and Aaron Harrison have been shooting and passing the ball much like UK fans thought they would when they committed to come to UK. If those two are knocking down jumpers like they have been since the start of the SEC Tournament, Kentucky is hard to beat.
Bet DSI has the odds on tonight’s big game:
Kentucky vs Louisville– Kentucky is +4 -110 and Louisville is -4 -110 ATS. Moneyline is UK +165 and UL -195.
We like Kentucky +4 -110 in this game. In fact, we like Kentucky to win the game so we will also take UK +165. They are too big in the paint for the Cards. For Louisville to win, Hancock and Smith will have to be red hot from outside. The Harrison twins will bother them just enough to give UK the edge.
