Florida basketball at Kentucky: Prediction, pick, line, odds, watch live stream online

By Adam Silverstein
January 20, 2018

Basketball

Image Credit: ESPN Images

The Florida Gators have bounced back after a serious dip to end 2017 by winning seven of their last eight games, but they nevertheless roll into a tough road game with the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats looking for their first signature win since Nov. 24, 2017.

Here’s what you need to know and how you can watch Gators-Wildcats.

Viewing information

Date: Saturday, Jan. 20 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: Rupp Arena – Lexington, Kentucky [Capacity: 10,133]

TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Maria Taylor)
Live stream:WatchESPN.com | Watch ESPN apps
SiriusXM: 137/190 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]

Live Updates:@OnlyGators on Twitter

Tale of the tape

	Florida Gators	No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats
Head coach	Mike White	John Calipari
Record	13-5 (5-1 SEC)	14-4 (4-2 SEC)
Conference	Southeastern	Southeastern

Prediction and analysis

Spread: Florida +2.5 | O/U: 148.5

Despite the Gators’ improved play as of late, asking Florida to go into Rupp Arena and take down a Kentucky team in a Saturday night tip is a tough request. UF is at its best when it’s scoring 80 points or more and shooting threes at a high clip. UK has one of the best perimeter defenses and often gets plenty of home cooking in Lexington. The Wildcats should pull this one off with the final score staying under the total.

Via Mytopsportsbooks.com: “Kentucky, which has yet to lose at home this season, is a 2.5-point favorite against Florida on Saturday. If the streaky Gators heat up from three, they can beat anyone in the country on any given night. The problem? The Wildcats have held eight straight opponents to under 40 percent from deep; the safer bet is that they make it eight in a row and cover this weekend.”

2017-18 records: ATS picks 0-1 | O/U picks 1-0

Injuries and absences

Out (3): C John Egbunu (knee), C Isaiah Stokes (knee), F Chase Johnson (illness)

Game notes

» Kentucky is 200-38 all-time against Florida with a 51-9 record in Lexington. White is 1-3 against Calipari early in his tenure as UF coach. The Gators and Wildcats split last year’s matchups, but UK Has won six of the last seven meetings since February 2015.
» The Florida-Kentucky game and Rupp Arena are featured on ESPN College GameDay early Saturday. The Gators are 6-2 all-time when playing as the featured GameDay game, 6-1 against the Wildcats.
» UF has drained 10 or more three-pointers in half of its games this season (9 of 18, 3 of 6 in SEC play).
» Florida has used six different starting fives in 18 games this season.
» UF is 7-12 under White, 3-1 this season, against AP Top 25 ranked opponents. Under White, the Gators are 34-2 when scoring 80+ points and 27-27 otherwise. Similarly, Florida is 40-7 when allowing 69 or fewer points, 21-22 otherwise.