Tuesday's Tip Sheet
February 14, 2017
**Tennessee at Kentucky**
-- Kentucky (20-5 straight up, 13-12 against the spread) will be looking for revenge when it welcomes Tennessee to Rupp Arena tonight. John Calipari’s team took its first SEC loss of the year at Thomson-Boling Arena on Jan. 24, when UT captured an 82-80 win as a 10.5-point home underdog. The 162 combined points slithered ‘under’ the 167-point total. Robert Hubbs III was the catalyst for the Volunteers with 25 points and seven rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Admiral Schofield added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Grant Williams contributed 13 points, six boards, four blocked shots, three steals and six assists without a turnover. Lamonte Turner was also a factor for the winners, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists without a turnover. Malik Monk scored a team-best 25 points for the Wildcats, but he coughed up five turnovers and made only 3-of-13 attempts from long distance. Edrice Adebayo scored 21 points and De’Aaron Fox had 17 in the losing effort.
-- As of early this morning, Kentucky was listed as a 14-point home favorite. The ‘Cats own a 12-2 SU record and an 8-6 ATS mark at Rupp.
-- After losing three of four games to throw its rabid fan base into an uproar, Kentucky has responded with back-to-back victories vs. LSU and at Alabama. UK miserably failed to cover the number against the Tigers, who outscored the ‘Cats 58-49 in the second half. LSU took the cash as a 25-point road underdog, while the 177 combined points went ‘over’ the 171.5-point tally. Wenyen Gabriel and Monk led UK with 23 points apiece.
-- Kentucky finally cashed a ticket Saturday at Alabama, snapping out of a 1-8 ATS slump to beat the Crimson Tide 67-58 as a 7.5-point road favorite at Coleman Coliseum. Monk scored 17 points to pace the ‘Cats, who caught a monster break due to their foes’ atrocious free-throw shooting. Avery Johnson’s team made just 9-of-26 from the charity stripe (34.6%). UK’s Isaiah Briscoe produced a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
-- Kentucky has been a double-digit home ‘chalk’ 13 times, posting an 8-5 spread record. Cal’s club took its outright home losses vs. UCLA and Kansas. The other defeats have come at Louisville (73-70), at UT and at Florida (88-66).
-- Kentucky is No. 9 in the RPI Rankings, No. 13 in the Associated Press’s poll and No. 7 at KenPom.com. The ‘Cats are 2-3 against the RPI Top 25, 4-5 versus the Top 50 and 11-5 against the Top 100. They have neutral-court scalps of North Carolina and Michigan State, in addition to road wins at Ole Miss, at Vanderbilt and at Alabama. UK’s best home victories have come over Arkansas, South Carolina, Valpo, Texas A&M, Auburn and Georgia. All of those wins came by margins of 16 points or more, with a 90-81 overtime win over UGA serving as the lone exception.
-- UK is fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging 89.3 points per game. Monk is averaging 21.7 points PPG while draining 41.4 percent of his 3-point launches. Fox is averaging 15.7 points, 5.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game, while Briscoe is averaging 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Adebayo (12.9 PPG) leads the ‘Cats in rebounding (6.9 RPG), field-goal percentage (60.3%) and blocked shots (1.6 BPG).
-- Tennessee (14-11 SU, 13-10 ATS) has won four of its eight road contests, going 5-3 ATS. The Vols are 8-3 ATS with five outright victories in 11 games as underdogs. There are 5-1 ATS as double-digit ‘dogs, 6-1 ATS when catching 9.5 points or more.
-- Rick Barnes’s squad is No. 44 in the RPI, going 1-6 against the Top 25, 2-7 versus the Top 50 and 7-10 against the Top 100. Tennessee has the fourth-best strength of schedule. The Vols’ resume would be so much stronger if not for overtime losses at North Carolina (73-71) and vs. Oregon (69-65) at the Maui Classic in Hawaii. UT’s best wins including home triumphs over UK, Kansas St., Ga Tech and Ole Miss. The Vols have also won at Auburn, at Vandy, at Texas A&M and at East Tennessee St.
-- Tennessee’s at-large hopes have taken big hits with a pair of losses the last three times out. The Vols had won four in a row both SU and ATS until taking a 64-59 loss at Mississippi State two Saturdays ago as four-point road favorites. Then this past Saturday, they couldn’t take advantage of UGA star Yante Maten’s foul trouble that limited him to 17 minutes of playing time. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs won a 76-75 decision in Knoxville as 4.5-point road underdogs. Williams scored a game-high 30 points and also blocked three shots, but it wasn’t enough as Hubbs (10 pts.) was the only other UT player in double figures.
-- Hubbs leads UT with a 14.3 PPG average and also pulls down 5.0 rebounds per game. Williams, a true freshman forward, is averaging 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game. He is also shooting at a team-best 54.0 percent from the field.
-- The ‘over’ is 15-10 overall for UK, 9-5 in its home games. However, the ‘under’ is 4-2 in its last six outings (regardless of venue).
-- The ‘under’ is 13-8-1 overall for the Vols, 5-3 in their eight road assignments. -- The ‘under’ is 10-3-2 in the last 15 head-to-head meetings between these SEC rivals. Also, the ‘under’ is 8-1-2 in the last 11 encounters played at Kentucky.
-- Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
**Ohio State at Michigan State**
-- These two proud programs are in the midst of nightmare campaigns. Michigan State might miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997, while Ohio State is looking at possibly missing the Tournament for a second straight season. There’s certainly time for both teams to recover, but a win in East Lansing is critical for the cause of both of these bitter rivals. As of early this morning, most spots had the Spartans installed as eight-point home favorites.
-- Michigan State (15-10 SU, 12-12 ATS) is in fifth place in the Big Ten standings, three games behind league-leading Wisconsin. Tom Izzo’s team has won three of its last four games both SU and ATS, including Saturday’s 77-66 won over Iowa as a seven-point home ‘chalk.’ Miles Bridges was the catalyst with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Nick Ward added 14 points and five boards, while Cassius Winston contributed 12 points and five assists.
-- Ward (13.1 PPG) leads MSU in rebounding (6.0 RPG), field-goal percentage (59.9%) and blocks (1.8 BPG). Bridges is averaging 16.2 points and 8.3 RPG.
-- Michigan State has won 11 of 13 home games at Breslin Center while going 7-5 ATS.
-- Michigan State is No. 41 in the RPI, going 2-5 against the Top 25, 3-5 versus the Top 50 and 7-9 against the Top 100. The Spartans have home wins over Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast, in addition toe a neutral-court win over Wichita St. They’ve also won on the road at Minnesota and at Nebraska. The big stain on Michigan State’s resume is a home loss to Northeastern. The only other opponent to win at Breslin is Purdue.
-- Ohio State (15-11 SU, 9-15 ATS) is 5-8 in Big Ten play and No. 59 in the RPI. Thad Matta’s team has lost six of seven games against Top-25 opponents and is 2-8 versus the Top 50. The Buckeyes are 6-9 against the Top 100. They have home wins over Michigan State, Minnesota, Providence and UNC Asheville, in addition to road triumphs at Nebraska and at Michigan.
-- Ohio State has lost six of its nine games on the road both SU and ATS.
-- Ohio State sophomore guard JaQuan Lyle is ‘questionable’ due to personal reasons after missing Saturday’s 86-77 loss at Maryland as a 7.5-point road underdog. Lyle (11.4 PPG) is averaging team-highs in assists (5.0 APG) and steals (1.1 SPG). Also, the Buckeyes remain without Keita Bates-Diop, who went down with a season-ending injury in early January. Bates-Diop was averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 RPG.
-- In the loss to the Terrapins, senior forward Marc Loving had 24 points and five rebounds, while Jae’Sean Tate finished with 20 points and five boards before fouling out. Despite playing just 17 minutes and also getting disqualified due to fouls, Trevor Thompson finished with 11 points and 10 boards.
-- Ohio State is 3-4 ATS in seven games as a road underdog with a pair of outright victories at Nebraska and at Michigan.
-- When these teams met in Columbus on Jan. 15, Ohio St. captured a 72-67 win as a 2.5-point home favorite. The 139 combined points slipped ‘over’ the 136.5 points. Lyle led the way with 22 points and six assists compared to merely one turnover. Loving and Tate had 12 points apiece. In defeat, Bridges had 24 points and nine rebounds.
-- The ‘under’ is 13-11 overall for the Spartans, 7-5 in their home games.
-- The ‘over’ is 15-9 overall for the Buckeyes, 7-2 in their road outings.
-- ESPN will have the telecast at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
-- With 2:43 remaining Monday night, Kansas was staring at back-to-back home losses for the first time during Bill Self’s remarkable 14-year tenure. In fact, KU hadn’t lost consecutive games at Allen Fieldhouse since 1988-89, Roy Williams’s first year at the school. With West Virginia holding a 14-point lead, the fans were on their way to the exits and the game was seemingly over – or not. The Jayhawks rallied to force overtime and then scored the first eight points of the extra session. At this point, gamblers backing WVU +5 were in panic mode and potentially looking at a stay at the Heartbreak Hotel for the night. But Teyvon Myer would hit a deep trey to slice the deficit to 82-78 with 16 ticks left. Next, KU’s Landen Lucas missed a pair of free throws, but WVU’s Nathan Adrian allowed the easy defensive rebound to bounce off his knee and out of bounds to give KU the ball back. Still, KU’s Josh Jackson threw the inbounds pass away and WVU’s Adrian made amends with a putback basket with nine seconds remaining. KU”s Frank Mason was fouled next and hit a pair of FTs to give his team an improbable 84-80 win. Fortunately for WVU backers, a wild bad beat was avoided after some seriously anxious moments.
-- There was a bad beat that came to fruition in an early 7:00 p.m. Eastern tip at the Carrier Dome last night. Bettors taking ‘under’ 141 points for Syracuse’s home game against Louisville came out on the wrong end of this total after the game wen ‘over due to overtime. Regulation ended with the game tied at 58-58 for just 116 combined points, but U of L would win 76-72 in OT to allow ‘over’ supporters to get a miraculous victory.
-- Before the game started, a moment of silence was observed for former ‘Cuse big man Fab Melo, who suddenly died in his sleep at the age of 26 on Saturday. Melo was a first-round pick for the Boston Celtics, but only played six NBA games. RIP.
-- Georgia will take on Mississippi State tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. UGA snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday by winning at Tennessee behind 29 points from senior guard J.J. Frazier. As of early this morning, most spots had UGA favored by eight points. The Bulldogs are just 2-7 ATS at home, while Mississippi St. is 2-4 both SU and ATS in six road assignments.
-- Mississippi State senior guard I.J. Ready is ‘questionable’ at UGA due to a calf injury that has kept him out for four straight games. Ready averages 8.7 points, 4.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He has a 94/33 assists-to-turnovers ratio.
-- Virginia Tech’s 80-78 OT win over Virginia was a costly one, as sophomore slasher Chris Clarke was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Clarke was averaging 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Clarke was also hitting 58.8 percent of his shots from the field.
-- Oklahoma won’t have its best player for the rest of the season. Senior guard Jordan Woodard tore his ACL in Saturday’s 80-64 loss Saturday at Iowa St. Woodard was averaging 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game. One year removed from a Final Four trip, OU is in the cellar of the Big 12 with a 2-8 record. Lon Kruger’s team returns to the court tonight as a 2.5-point ‘chalk’ versus Texas.
-- Texas is winless in eight road games, but it is 6-2 ATS in those contests. The Longhorns could’ve pushed in a 13-point loss Saturday at Oklahoma St. as 11-point ‘dogs, but they missed a layup on a run-out with about 20 seconds left. After that, OSU ran out of the clock.
