#1 Wisconsin Badgers vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats
Tip-Off: Saturday, April 4th 2015 at 8:45pm ET
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
TV: TBS
IT’S the game everyone has been anticipating – Wisconsin will play Kentucky in the Final Four. Will the Wildcats undefeated season continue or will the Badgers be able to pull off the upset on Saturday?
Wisconsin have cruised into the Final Four with three consecutive 7-point wins against Oregon, North Carolina and Arizona. I love the resiliency out of this bunch. The Badgers were down in the 2H against UNC and Arizona, but pulled away late in both games.
Kentucky were cruising along until they ran into the Fighting Irish in the Elite Eight. It looked like ND would pull off the upset, but the Wildcats made their last nine FG attempts and two clutch free throws with six seconds left to win the game by two points.
These two programs are very familiar with each other, as Kentucky knocked off Wisconsin in last year’s Final Four (74-73). It took a 3-pointer from Aaron Harrison with 5.7 seconds left for the Wildcats to win last year – will this game live up to those expectations?
Badgers vs. Wildcats point spread, points total and money line odds
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- Money Line: Wisconsin (+200) vs. Kentucky (-240)
- Point Spread: Wisconsin +5 (-110) vs. Kentucky –5 (-110)
- Game Total: Over 131 (-110) vs. Under 131 (-110)
The action has been relatively split so far on the point spread and money line. Wisconsin are taking about 60% of point spread bets, but only 31% of money line bets. Everyone expects points, as nearly every bet has been on the over at the time of publishing.
Starting line-ups in WIS @ UK
Wisconsin Badgers:
- F: Frank Kaminsky
- F: Sam Dekker
- F: Nigel Hayes
- G: Josh Gasser
- G: Bronson Koenig
Kentucky Wildcats:
- F: Willie Cauley-Stein
- F: Karl Anthony-Towns
- F: Trey Lyles
- G: Aaron Harrison
- G: Andrew Harrison
Stats pack
Kentucky ranks better, but Wisconsin played a tougher SOS (Badgers SOS = 16 vs. Wildcats SOS = 45).
- Points Scored: Wisconsin 72.8 PPG (49th) vs. Kentucky 74.6 PPG (28th)
- Offensive Rebounds: Wisconsin 9.5 ORPG (268th) vs. Kentucky 12.8 ORPG (27th)
- Assists: Wisconsin 12.7 APG (165th) vs. Kentucky 14.4 APG (54th)
- Turnovers: Wisconsin 7.4 TOPG (1st) vs. Kentucky 10.6 TOPG (24th)
Kentucky rank better than Wisconsin in most offensive categories, except turnovers. The Badgers are the better shooting team, as they rank 17th in FG% (48.2%) and 79th in 3PT% (36.4%), while Kentucky ranks 38th in FG% (46.8%) and 156th in 3PT% (34.7%).
- Points Allowed: Wisconsin 57.8 PPG (12th) vs. Kentucky 53.9 PPG (3rd)
- Defensive Rebounds: Wisconsin 23.9 DRPG (154th) vs. Kentucky 25.7 DRPG (41st)
- Blocks: Wisconsin 3.3 BPG (197th) vs. Kentucky 6.9 BPG (2nd)
- Steals: Wisconsin 4.5 SPG (328th) vs. Kentucky 6.5 SPG (133rd)
Both teams are strong defensively, but I expect both teams will struggle trying to stop each other. The two offenses are efficient and neither team applies much defensive pressure. Kentucky blocks a lot of shots, but the blocks rarely result in a change of possession.
Wisconsin Badgers vs. Kentucky Wildcats picks
The public likes Wisconsin in this match-up and it makes sense. The Badgers lost by 1 point in the Final Four to Kentucky last year and the country saw some weakness in Kentucky against ND. However, I believe we’re getting value on the Wildcats line.
John Calipari is a great coach and he’ll have a plan to shutdown Dekker. Dekker is averaging 21.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in the tournament and he has been the most important player on the Badgers. Kaminsky is averaging 22.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG in the tourney.
Wisconsin has a big weakness that Kentucky will exploit too, and that’s interior defense.
Arizona shredded the Badgers big men in the paint and the Wildcats will do even more damage. Towns should have a big game, but he has been inconsistent. He has two 20+-point efforts, but he also finished with 1 point and 2 rebounds against WVU.
Cauley-Stein hasn’t done much scoring in the tournament, but he has 10+ rebounds on two occasions already. I expect him to pick up a double-double in this prime match-up, as he’ll be able to score some easy points under the rim on Wisconsin.
Kentucky bangs the boars hard as well and the Badgers are too soft to compete on the glass. Look for Kentucky to get a lot of easy buckets on offensive rebounds. Unless the Badgers are on fire from beyond the arc – Kentucky will cover and advance to the finals.