The Kentucky Wildcats (14-4) visit the Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-6) at United Supermarkets Arena in Texas Tech’s hometown of Lubbock, TX. Saturday for a 6 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Kentucky-Texas Tech odds and betting lines, with college basketball betting advice and tips around this matchup.
Kentucky at Texas Tech: Three things you need to know
- Kentucky has beaten Texas Tech in each of their previous four head-to-head games.
- The Big XII is 35-25 all-time in the Big XII-SEC Challenge.
- Kentucky-Texas Tech is the only matchup of ranked teams playing in Saturday’s Big XII-SEC Challenge 10-game slate.
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Kentucky at Texas Tech: Odds, betting lines and picks
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Kentucky 68, Texas Tech 61
Moneyline (ML)
The Wildcats have played much better recently than the Red Raiders; Kentucky has won six of its last seven games and Texas Tech has lost three of its last five. The balance in the talent scales tips in favor of Kentucky, which has nine top-100 RSCI ranked players compared to Texas Tech, which has just three.
It shows when looking at each team’s record against ranked opponents. Since 2015, Kentucky is 20-17 straight up against ranked opponents compared to Texas Tech’s 20-22 mark against ranked opponents. Texas Tech is 4-2 outright in the Big XII-SEC Challenge but none of those games were played against a ranked opponent, while Kentucky is 3-3 in the Big XII-SEC Challenge and all six opponents were ranked.
TAKE KENTUCKY (+165) to win outright. New to sports betting? Bet $40 to earn a profit of $66 if Kentucky can win.
Against the Spread (ATS)
If we like the Wildcats to win straight up, then we LOVE KENTUCKY +4.5 (-115). Texas Tech is 9-1 at home on the season but just 5-5 against the spread versus a Kentucky team that is both 2-1 straight up and ATS.
Both teams play good defense—Kentucky is ranked 28th in the nation in opponent field-goal percentage and Texas Tech is 57th in opponent field-goal percentage—but the Wildcats have a decent offense (ranked 54th in FG%) compared to the Red Raiders’ putrid offense (ranked 149th in the nation in FG%).
HAMMER KENTUCKY +4.5 (-115).
Over/Under (O/U)
The combined Over/Under record of Kentucky and Texas Tech is 18-17-1 this season, and since 2015 their combined record versus ranked opponents is 35-43-1. Recently, the Over is 7-1 in the Wildcats’ last eight games overall but the Under is 4-1 in the Red Raiders’ last five overall.
This is a toss-up for me and I am saying PASS ON A TOTAL BET in this game. The line’s set at 132.5 (Over: -110, Under: -110).
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