Sports Betting – Wildcats Aim To Get Back On Track At Home

The No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats will try to get their SEC season back on track when they host the Mississippi State Bulldogs this Tuesday night.

Losers in three of their last four, the Wildcats have fallen to fourth in the SEC East, and are barely holding on to a spot in the top 25. Terrence Jones and company will now look to take advantage of consecutive home games against teams seeded below them, beginning against the Bulldogs. Here’s a sports betting preview:

Mississippi State Bulldogs @ Kentucky Wildcats

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Tuesday February 15, 2011 – 7:00 PM ET

Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky

Sports Betting Odds: Bulldogs +17.5, Wildcats -17.5

Mississippi State has split its past four games to stay even at .500 in SEC play, but will have a tough task ahead of them to climb above that mark against a Kentucky team that is undefeated at home this season.

Sports Betting: What Mississippi State Will Have To Do To Win?

Off-court issues have really hampered the Bulldogs’ ability to generate much on the floor in regards to consistency, as suspensions continue to rain down on the Mississippi State program.

The Bulldogs welcomes back leading scorer Raven Johnson in time for their 65-62 loss to Auburn, a game in which they gave up 17 unanswered points in a game that they had appeared to have clinched when they headed to the locker room with a 19-point second-half lead.

Johnson scored just three points in 19 minutes off the bench, well below his average of 17.7 as a starter, and there are severe concerns about whether he will be able to rebound with the same form he demonstrated earlier in the year. There is no word on whether or not Johnson will be in the starting lineup on Tuesday, but either way he will be relied on heavily.

Sports Betting: What Kentucky Will Have To Do To Win?

Despite their struggles on the road, the Wildcats are feeling confident heading in to the stretch run of their season. That’s probably because four of their final six games will be played at Rupp Arena where they haven’t lost so far, and none of those games will be against ranked opponents.

Kentucky will have to go undefeated the rest of the way to even have a chance at catching the Florida Gators for first place in the SEC East, which still is unlikely even if they manage to do it. Jones continues to pace the Wildcats with averages of 17.9 points and nine rebounds per game, but will need more of a contribution from his teammates to get the job done.

Sports Betting: Outlook & Pick

The Wildcats took down Mississippi State twice last season, but both contests went to overtime, a testament to how close this matchup really is. However, Kentucky has won its four conference home games by an average of 20 points, and even though the margin won’t be as wide in this game they should have no problem getting the job done.

Sports Betting Pick: Kentucky -17.5