Missouri vs. #6 Kentucky College Basketball Picks

No. 6 Kentucky is starting to round into form and now looks like the team to beat in the SEC – if not the country — as the Wildcats host a dangerous Missouri squad on Tuesday night in conference action. UK is a double-digit favorite on the NCAAB odds. 2024 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis Missouri vs. #6 Kentucky | MyBookie Sportsbook Week 10 NCAAB

Where: Rupp Arena
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Kentucky -5.5 (total 82.5)

Why Bet on Missouri Tigers?

The Tigers started this season at 7-2 but lost four the fourth time in five games Saturday, 75-68 at home to Georgia in the SEC opener. A late 6-0 run gave the Bulldogs some breathing room as they outscored the Tigers 12-5 to close out the game. Georgia’s early hot-shooting allowed the visitors to make 48.0 percent of its field goals despite the Tigers holding them to 36.0 percent in the second frame. The Bulldogs were also able to take advantage of the charity stripe, outscoring Mizzou, 15-6, from the line. Mizzou, meanwhile, made 44.4 percent of its shots.

Sean East II led the Tigers with 18 points and eight assists in the game, as well as chipping in six rebounds and a pair of steals. East II’s 18-point performance gives him 1,000 career points in collegiate basketball. Tamar Bates scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game with 15 points. Aidan Shaw added a career-best 14 points to go with six boards, while Noah Carter added 13 points and three assists.

East leads the Tigers with 17.1 points per game – ranking fifth in the SEC and 118th nationally. The guard has increased his scoring by 9.8 points per game – easily the highest mark in the SEC. East leads Mizzou with 12 double-digit scoring games and six contests with 20-plus points. In addition, East has scored 15-plus points in nine-straight games – the longest run by a Tiger since Jordan Barnett in 2017-18 (10-game run). East, who averaged 8.4 points in his first three seasons, owns career-best marks in shooting percentage (55.4) and 3-point percentage (53.8).

Of all players in the country with at least two 3-point attempts per game, East is fifth at 53.8 percent and Bates is seventh at 53.1 percent. The Tigers are the only team with two players in the top 20.

Having never scored in double figures in his first 44 career games, Shaw has done so in each of the last two contests. The forward has tallied 24 points the last two games. Overall, Shaw ranks sixth nationally by making 75.7 percent of his 2-point attempts this season, averaging 4.1 points per game.

MU ranks last in the SEC and 316th in the NCAA with 15.7 free-throw attempts per game (UK is 13th in the SEC at 19.1). Six times this year, Mizzou has allowed 10 more shots from the charity stripe than it took, including three times in the last five games (losing all three contests).

“The stat sheet says, at home, we shot seven free throws,” Coach Dennis Gates said after Georgia shot 21 free throws to Missouri’s seven. “That’s what it says. You’re not winning basketball games in the SEC if you’re shooting seven free throws at home. We had 36 points in the paint to (Georgia’s) 22. We’ve got to come away with foul shots in addition to that, and I think that allows you to take the pressure off jump shots; that allows you to take the pressure off certain situations.”

Week 10 NCAAB Game Odds	SPREAD	MONEYLINE	TOTAL
Kentucky	-5.5	-400	U 82.5
Missouri	+5.5	+260	O 82.5

Why Bet on Kentucky Wildcats?

Kentucky (11-2) won its fifth game in a row Saturday, 87-85 at Florida to open SEC play. Florida led for nearly 30 of the first 38 minutes before Kentucky made the key plays, most notably a go-ahead 3-pointer by a 7-footer who doesn’t shoot 3s, with just over a minute to go.

D.J. Wagner and Sheppard each tallied 14 points. It was Wagner’s seventh double-figure scoring game of the season and Sheppard’s 10th. Sheppard did not have any steals, ending his streak of 12 straight games making at least two steals.