Arkansas
vs.
Kentucky
College Basketball
Pick – Analysis
2/28/15
Kentucky is getting closer to an undefeated regular season and they aren’t slowing down. If anything, the Wildcats are getting better as seen in their 110-point performance last weekend. Arkansas is believed to be the second best team in the SEC, so we’ll get to see what the separation looks like from first to second.
The Razorbacks are having an impressive season for their standards, currently at No. 18 in the AP Polls. This is a team that only made it the NIT last year. But looking at Arkansas a little further, are they a good team, or just a product from a weak conference? Their best win in non-Conference play was at SMU when the Mustangs were struggling, and they also have a home win against Dayton. They lost easily at Iowa State and in overtime at Clemson. Their three SEC losses are at Tennessee, vs. Ole Miss (recently won at Ole Miss) and at Florida. It’s hard to gauge these types of teams and the March Madness committee will likely run into the same issue.
On the other end of that, Kentucky has proven they are the best team in the country and no one disagrees with it. The Wildcats are undefeated and have run through the SEC. Sure, there has been times when they’ve run into some trouble in close Games, or even overtime Games, but they have prevailed. By the book, there isn’t one team in the country that can really match up with Kentucky. Going against the supposed second-best team in the conference, one would think Kentucky won’t take this Game lightly.
The Razorbacks are led by Bobby Portis (17.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Michael Qualls (15.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Those two will need to have big Games for Arkansas to even stay close. There have been times this season when Kentucky struggled against athletic big guys, and Portis fits that role. Portis can play in the paint, and also has a solid mid-range jumper. Going against the size of Kentucky will be something he’s not used to, however, and could spell trouble for this team. The same can be said about Qualls, who won’t have a size advantage at the guard spot which is usually the case.
Kentucky can throw any number of guys at those two players. Even though Arkansas is great at moving the ball on the offensive end, the length and size of Kentucky will be a problem for them.
On the other end, Portis will have his hands full with Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns. Portis cannot get into foul trouble against those guys if Arkansas wants to stand a chance. The Razorbacks have a solid core of guys and run fairly deep, but they aren’t that big of a team outside of Portis.
Kentucky’s strength is in numbers. If one guy isn’t having a good Game, they have plenty more guys that can step up and become factors.
The Wildcats have won their last two home Games by 34 and 35 points. In a bigger Game against Arkansas, expect Kentucky to be on a mission to show how much better they are than the rest of the conference.
Our Prediction – Kentucky by 23