Brown (7-4) vs. Kentucky (10-2)
December 31, 2024 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Kentucky -20.5; Over/Under: +151.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Brown Bears and the Kentucky Wildcats meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Rupp Arena. Here’s a Kentucky vs Brown prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Kentucky vs Brown pick.
Brown Bears Betting Preview
Brown stumbled to a 1-3 start over their first four games. The lone win in that time was over New Hampshire, surrounded by losses to Siena, Maine, and Holy Cross. The Bears would then beat Sacred Heart, Canisius, Stony Brook, Vermont, Bryant, and Rhode Island over the next six. Game 11 was another loss though, this time to Kansas.
On December 22 versus Kansas, Brown came out of halftime with a 42-31 deficit. The Bears were only able to muster another 22 points from there in an 87-53 blowout loss. Kino Lilly was the top scorer with 18 points and four rebounds. Aaron Cooley was the next-closest starter points-wise, securing six with nine rebounds and three assists. Bench contributors N’famara Dabo and Alexander Lesburt each posted six points as well.
This year Lilly is far and away the leading scorer for Brown. He accounts for 20 points per game and 3.6 assists per game so far. Landon Lewis is quite a ways behind on 13.9 points per game, but he’s second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game. Cooley leads in rebounding (7.6 per game) and he’s third in scoring with 12.5 points per game so far.
Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview
Over on the Kentucky side, they beat Wright State, Bucknell, Duke, Lipscomb, Jackson State, Western Kentucky, and Georgia State before a loss to Clemson on December 3 for their first blemish of the season. The Wildcats would beat Gonzaga, Colgate, and Louisville over the next trio before meeting up with Ohio State.
Back on December 21 in the Ohio State game, the Wildcats fell back into the loss column. Kentucky took a 39-30 deficit into the locker room and eventually lost 85-65 after a 46-35 second. Otega Oweh was tops in the losing effort with 21 points. Andrew Carr added 13 points with four rebounds and two assists. Also in double-figures was Jaxson Robinson with 10 points and four rebounds.
Oweh leads the scoring for Kentucky this season. He’s got 16.2 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game thus far. Though he’s only played 10 outings, Lamont Butler is second with 14.0 points per game and a team-high 4.2 assists per game. Robinson is also in double-figures, not too far behind on 12.3 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Why the Kentucky Wildcats will win
- Kentucky has won each of its last 12 games at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.
- Kentucky has won the first half in each of its last 12 games at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.
Why the Brown Bears will win
- Brown has won six of its last seven games.
Kentucky vs Brown Prediction
I’ll probably just stay with Kentucky here. The Wildcats need a good bounce-back effort after a listless loss to Ohio State, and this is a solid opportunity to get it. Kentucky hit just 29.8 percent from the field and 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from 3-point range in that loss to the Buckeyes while giving up 56.6 percent shooting on the other side. The Wildcats have scored 77 or more points in all 10 of their wins, but they’ve also scored fewer than 67 points in both of their losses.
As for Brown, they shot a dismal 26.7 percent from the field in their last game versus Kansas, but no one expected the Bears to finish anywhere close in that one anyway. With that in mind, the 24.2 percent (8-of-33) from 3-point range and 50-40 rebounding deficit make sense as well. Brown had posted 76 or more points in five of six previous games (all wins), though. All of that said, the Bears will likely have a tough time keeping any sort of pace on Kentucky at Rupp Arena. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brown somewhere in range at halftime but they’ll probably get buried by the Wildcats after the break once they tire out.
