Kentucky will battle Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday morning.
Expectations remain high for the Wildcats in Lexington despite a lackluster season by their lofty standards. Kentucky struggled with injuries all year long and settled for a No. 7 seed in this year’s Big Dance.
Santa Clara earned an at-large bid this year thanks to a strong regular season in the West Coast Conference. The Broncos are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.
Kentucky vs. Santa Clara predictions
Here are a couple of picks for this game on Underdog:
Otega Oweh, Kentucky: Higher than 22.5 points
I like Oweh to score 23+ points in this matchup. This is primarily a volume play, as Kentucky’s reliance on Oweh offensively has increased in recent weeks. Oweh is averaging 17.6 field goal attempts per game over his last 9 contests (compared to 13+ field goal tries over the full season). His efficiency has waned a little bit, but I expect Oweh to have a big first-round game against a Santa Clara defense that ranks just 82nd in adjusted efficiency.Â
Allen Graves, Santa Clara: Lower than 13.5 points
Allen Graves is an extremely efficient player, but I don’t think he has enough volume to justify this projection. He’s only averaging 8 shots per game. Graves has good size at 6-foot-9, but isn’t overly athletic. It’s not hard to imagine a world where he struggles against Kentucky’s front court of Mouhamed Diabate, Malachi Moreno and Brandon Garrison. He only takes about 8 field goal attempts per game, so if he has a slow start, he won’t necessarily have the opportunities to make up for those missed shots.
Here’s what the current market for this game looks like on Kalshi:
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
