North Carolina and Kentucky Throw Down in Las Vegas
Two of the iconic programs in college basketball meet today in Las Vegas as the No.7 North Carolina Tar Heels
take on the No.6 Kentucky Wildcats at the spanking new T-Mobile Arena on the Vegas Strip. Both teams have
impressive credentials. The 10-1 Tar Heels have cruised through their schedule with their lone loss at Indiana.
Kentucky has also rolled through nine opponents with their only blemish a home loss to sharp shooting UCLA.
This game features a dichotomy of styles as North Carolina prefers a more deliberate pace and lives on offensive
rebounding. The Heels have a deep bench and play a lot of people, Kentucky saw almost it’s entire roster declare
for the NBA last year and started the year No.347 (out of 352) in game experience. It’s easier to do with all 5* Blue
Chip players and McDonald’s All Americans but the Cats are still clearly a work in progress.
The game opened at pick with the total opening at 165 1/2. Two way action has seen both North Carolina and UK
each moved to -1 but at this writing the line is pick ’em in most houses as of this writing. The Over/Under is down
a full point and headed South as we see all 164 and 164.5 around town and off shore. Shopping is s must as
always.
North Carolina is led by 6’8″ junior forward Justin Jackson who averages 15.5 points and 4.7 boards per game.
he shoots 47% from the field and 86% from the line but has little perimeter game. Joel Berry (14.8, 3.8, 4.7) is UNC’s
best guard. He’s been nicked up but listed as probable for this one. Everybody on North Carolina rebounds led by
Kennedy Meeks (9.3) and Tony Bradley (6.5) Love him or hate him, Roy Williams is a Hall of Fame coach that needs
no introduction.
The Kentucky 14 man roster is comprised of four sophomores and seven freshmen so the Wildcats are very young.
Sharpshooting freshman guard Malik Monk has carried the bulk of the scoring by averaging 19.4 ppg. He’s shooting
48% from the field so his shot selection is good giving hom a longer leash with Coach Cal. UK has three guards
averaging better than 15 ppg. while Ederice Adebayo appears to be the next Kentucky big man of note. The 6’10”
frosh out of Washington D.C. averages 12.6 ppg while ripping down 8.0 boards.
This is the 13th time these two giants have met with both teams ranked in the Top Ten with North Carolina enjoying
an 8-4 series advantage. The teams last met two years ago with Kentucky taking down an 84-70 decision. The teams
are very evenly matched with Kentucky getting the better of the guard play and the Tar Heels having the edge in the
front court. The benches are even with two of Kentucky’s three seniors generally the first off the pine. They both play
guard and are experienced and don’t turn the ball over. World Champion handicapper Jeff Allen is off to a fast 16-8
and 3211 runs dating back to last year’s March Madness. You can find Jeff Allen on his home site of www.vegasscoresandodds.com.