By Charles Jay
The Wisconsin Badgers have an opportunity to put themselves in the way of history on Saturday, while at the same time making some history of their own. They go up against the Kentucky Wildcats, possessors of a 38-0 record, but seemingly vulnerable after having such a close call against Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round. NCAA Tournament betting action will get underway at 8:45 PM ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. And once they start playing, a different kind of wagering starts as well, as Vietbet customers can try their luck and skill on sides, totals and props with Live Betting Extra.
Wisconsin has a sensational record of 35-3 straight-up and they are 20-17 against the spread. They won the Big Ten championship, defeating Michigan State, another Final Four team, in the title game after holding them scoreless in overtime. Kentucky is, as mentioned, a perfect 38-0 and has a chance to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to go through the entire schedule unscathed. They are 19-18 against the basketball pointspread.
This is a rematch of last week year’s Final Four classic, in which Aaron Harrison had to sink a three-pointer with 5.7 seconds left in order to give Kentucky a 74-73 victory. Then the Wildcats went onto the championship game, where they were upset by UConn.
In the NCAA Tournament betting odds placed on this game by the people at Vietbet, Kentucky is the favorite:
Kentucky Wildcats -5
Wisconsin Badgers +5
Over 131 points -110
Under 131 points -110
So what could actually pave the way for a Wisconsin victory? Well, here are some things that may play in their favor:
* Wisconsin happens to be the most efficient offensive team since that official metric was created. That’s a very powerful thing to say. The Badgers have averaged 72.8 points per game this year on 48% shooting. These are very solid numbers, and indicate that they may be able to force the pace a little bit better than Kentucky.
* Wisconsin is so good fundamentally, because they don’t make mistakes. They committed the fewest turnovers in the country this season. And they have the second best assist-turnover ratio. What this means is that they obviously know how to move the ball around the court very effectively with Bo Ryan’s Swing offense, which actually highlights the “smalls” playing in the post just as much as the “bigs.” Vietbet patrons saw that Notre Dame exhibited great ball movement against Kentucky, and was able to overcome a lack of size to pull the near upset. The Irish also shot 46%, far better than what Kentucky has allowed on average (35%).
* In keeping with that theme, Wisconsin does a great job of having its big men get out to the perimeter. Frank Kaminsky is well-known for that, and Sam Dekker nailed five triples in the quarterfinal game against Arizona. This will have the effect of creating some problems for the Wildcats, as they have to get their big people to come out in space they’re not used to.
* The concept of getting into foul trouble is almost foreign to the Badgers. They have committed fewer fouls in any team in almost two decades. So you know that they know how to play defense without making errors.
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