The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Kentucky Wildcats meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Rupp Arena. Mississippi State is currently 13-5 on the year and coming off a weekend win over Ole Miss. As for Kentucky, they’re sitting at 15-4 so far. The Wildcats lost to Auburn in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Mississippi State put up a 10-3 run in their first 13 matchups this year, losing to Louisville, Minnesota and Colorado State along the way. It’s been a 3-2 stretch since with victories versus Georgia, Alabama and Ole Miss for the Bulldogs.
In the Ole Miss game on Saturday, Mississippi State had a tight one-point lead at halftime. The Bulldogs surged on a 36-19 run from there for the 78-60 victory. Iverson Molinar led the team on 20 points with three rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Over on the Kentucky side, they went 11-3 over their first 14 games this year with losses to only Duke, Notre Dame and LSU. After four wins over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Wildcats lost to Auburn on Saturday.
Matched up against Auburn in their last game, Kentucky had a 33-29 edge going into halftime. The Wildcats fell behind on a 51-38 second-half run and lost 80-71. Sahvir Wheeler and Kellan Grady each scored 17 points to lead the team in the losing effort.
The Wildcats are 5-1 ATS in their last six at home and 1-9 ATS in their last 10 Tuesday games. The over is 5-1 in Kentucky’s last six at home and 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 after a straight-up loss.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are 0-4 ATS in their last four road games and 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven after an ATS win. Mississippi State is 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games.
PICK: I’m going with Kentucky here. The Wildcats had a bad second half against Auburn in their last game, but ended up shooting 50 percent overall from the floor. Kentucky has scored well over this 4-1 run, with 71 or more points in four of those five.
As for Mississippi State, they’re going to be shorthanded here after the Tolu Smith injury (he’s week-to-week with a knee issue) but should be able to rally and stay competitive. This looks like a fun matchup, and I like Kentucky to power out a cover in a bounce-back effort.