Kentucky vs Louisville 12/31/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats meet in college basketball action from the Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Louisville Cardinals will look to rebound from a 76-64 loss to North Carolina State last time out. El Ellis leads the Cardinals in scoring and assists as the lone double-digit scorer for Louisville so far this season, logging 17.1 PPG and 4.3 APG to lead the Cardinals in the assist department as well. Jae’Lyn Withers has 8 PPG with 4.8 RPG and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has a team-high 6.3 RPG to lead the Cardinals on the glass this season. As a team, Louisville is averaging 61.4 points per game on 40.1% shooting from the field, 39.3% from three point range and 73.8% from the foul line up to this point in the season.

The Kentucky Wildcats will be looking for a bounce back after an 89-75 loss to Missouri in their last matchup. Oscar Tshiebwe has 15.8 PPG and 13.6 RPG to lead the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding by averaging a double-double per game while Antonio Reeves has 12.4 PPG. Cason Wallace has 12.4 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Kentucky so far this season. Sahvir Wheeler also has 9.1 PPG with a team-high 6.5 APG to lead the Wildcats In assists as well this season. As a team, Kentucky is averaging 78.4 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 39.5% from three and 66.1% from the foul line this season.

Louisville is 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 road games and 8-21 ATS in their last 29 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 road games. Kentucky is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall.

I get the case to be made on either side in this game, but, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I’m taking Louisville and the points. The Cardinals have had extra time to prepare for this game, and even if Louisville gets beat up, I think this is a lot of points to give up in a rivalry game. Louisville may not be winning games, but the Cardinals are at least getting covers as a product of simply getting far too many points. We saw it against NC State and I think Kentucky’s just getting the name brand rub here from oddsmakers. I think this one ends up finishing as a 19-20 point win for the Wildcats, but Louisville sneaks in for a cover.