The Howard Bison commence their season on the road against the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats Monday. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Howard vs. Kentucky odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
The Bison will once again be led by coach Kenneth Blakeney. He won’t have 2021-22 leading scorer G Kyle Foster on the roster anymore. F Steve Settle (13.8 PPG )and G Elijah Hawkins (13.0) will be back and they were 2nd and 3rd respectively in scoring on a Howard team that finished the season 16-13 and 9-5 in the MEAC.
As for Kentucky, after a 1st-round loss as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, expectations will once again be high. It is returning C Oscar Tshiebwe, who was named the Player of the Year last season after averaging 17.4 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. The Wildcats will also be adding a pair of 5-star recruits in G Cason Wallace and F Chris Livingston.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
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Howard at Kentucky odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:01 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Howard +1000 (bet $100 to win $1,000) | Kentucky -10000 (bet $10,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Howard +25.5 (-116) | Kentucky -25.5 (-117)
- Over/Under (O/U): 145.5 (O: -113 | U: -120)
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Howard at Kentucky picks and predictions
Prediction
Kentucky 84, Howard 62
Moneyline
PASS.
Howard isn’t going to pull off the upset, just look to the spread and total for value.
Against the spread
BET HOWARD +25.5 (-116).
The Wildcats are banged up and should take off the gas late. Tshiebwe and starting PG Sahvir Wheeler both have had early-season injury issues and should see limited minutes in what is expected to be a blowout.
Howard played 1 ranked team last season, No. 5 Villanova, and it was able to keep the game within 20 points, a 100-81 loss.
As for Kentucky, teams like Ohio, Albany, and Mount St. Mary’s would’ve covered this spread against it last season. It lost a few key shooters like G Kellan Grady.
Unless the Cats keep the gas on, the lack of shooting and what they showed with a similar roster last season puts HOWARD +25.5 (-116) as a good bet.
Over/Under
LEAN OVER 145.5 (-113).
Howard is bringing back 2 key scoring options, both of whom averaged over 13 points per game. The Bison should be able to score, especially considering they put 81 on Nova last year and averaged 76.4 per game.
With Tshiebwe’s size, the Cats should get easy buckets as well and be able to run up the score. Expect a quick-paced game with Kentucky’s size ultimately helping it get easy buckets that push the total over.
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