Kentucky vs Texas A&M College Basketball Predictions and Odds Jan 19
Kentucky vs Texas A&M Betting Preview
WagerTalk college basketball capper Tony Finn offers his Kentucky vs Texas A&M betting preview for Wednesday, January 19. At the time of posting, the Wildcats have opened as a 7.5-point road favorite over the home Aggies, with the total sitting at 144 points.
Stay on top of the latest College Basketball updates direct from Las Vegas!
| Wednesday, January 19 | SEC Basketball Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Kentucky Wildcats -7.5 vs Texas A&M Aggies |
| Total: | 136 Points |
| Game Time: | 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT |
| Arena: | Reed Arena in College Station, TX |
| TV: | SEC Network |
Kentucky vs Texas A&M Analysis
Texas A&M Aggies (15-2, 4-0 SEC) and the Kentucky Wildcats (14-3, 4-1 SEC) are chasing the Southeastern Conference first-place Auburn Tigers, and the Wednesday night winner in College Station will pick up a half-game on the Tigers in the league standings.
It is reasonable to believe that a team’s past performances would hold serve to a degree halfway through the regular season. However, the offensive act the Big Cats showcased under the Big Top on Saturday against the second-ranked defense in Division I basketball requires that Barnum and Bailey confront Ringling and his Brothers about the inhumane treatment administered to the Tennessee Volunteers.
Those Big Cats, formally known as the Kentucky Wildcats, raised ethical concerns in their treatment of the Volunteers during Saturday’s matinee in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, at Rupp Arena. The Lecturer known in college basketball circles and inside Clown Alley as Coach Calipari, Cal for short, gave the Towners and Natives a show they will never forget and treated the Tennessee Kinkers like Pickled Punk.
Kentucky was arguably the most offensively efficient ever during coach Calipari’s tenure in Lexington. The Wildcats’ performance under the Rupp Top, a 107-79 beatdown of the Volunteers, will be talked about for years to come. Freshman TyTy Washington Jr. performed a highwire act that was career-high 28 points while Sahvir Wheeler returned from the injury list to add 21 points and the Wildcats shot a crazy-good 68 percent from the field.
Texas A&M Was Unbeaten in League Play Until …
What Calipari’s crew did to the Natural Order of Basketball tongue-tied a coach that always has nothing to say about something. “But we were so good offensively, passing it, extra plays. They stretched out their defense, and we’re a driving, shoot (a) floater kind of team. That’s what we are, and it kind of worked in our favor,” Calipari stammered during the post-game presser following the team’s win over then-No. Twenty-two ranked Tennessee.
It isn’t realistic to believe that the Kentucky kids can travel to the Reed Arena galaxy far, far away and duplicate the sideshow they performed Saturday against the Vols.
The Aggies’ 15-2 record hasn’t been gifted but earned. So it was a surprise to find the Advanced Analysis of College Basketball, KenPom, ranking the Aggies at the No. 59th spot of Division I. The College Station crew has the 88th ranked Adj. Efficiency Offense and 47th ranked Adjusted Efficiency Defense in the college ranks. A&M owns a 52.9 percent Effective FG% which is the 70th best or 358 Division I programs, and the near-elite defense of Texas A&M has held the opposition to a shooting just north of 30 percent from the 3-point line this season.
A deeper look at the Aggies also reveals that inside of their 15 wins, they have but one quality non-conference victory, a 73-67 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on neutral wood. A&M’s two losses came versus the Wisconsin Badgers and TCU Horned Frogs, both in tournament action during the Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas period.
Eight of the Aggies’ other 14 victories have come via KenPom teams rank 217th or lower. This group includes North Florida, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Houston Baptist, New Orleans, Northwestern State, Dallas Christian, Central Arkansas, and Georgia.
The remaining six “Dubs” came against (146) Abilene Christian, (130) Butler, (140) Oregon State, and along with (217) Georgia the other three conference wins over (38) Arkansas, (118) Mississippi, and (139) Missouri. The previous statement that Texas A&M’s 15 wins weren’t gifted but earned might be a wee bit overstated.
The Aggies are an aberration of sorts. The fact that A&M ranks 34th in 3-point accuracy, leading scorer Quenton Jackson averages 13 points per game and shoots nearly 40 percent from distance plus hits 80 percent of his free throws makes the College Station crew a one-man show. As Jackson goes, so go the Aggies. Contain Jackson, and little else is required to take down the Aggies.
The Jackson mentioned above has capable metrics and acceptable percentages. However, as a team, Texas A&M shoots under 47 percent from the field, 37 percent from beyond the arc, and the telling tale of what kind of offensive squad the Aggies becomes transparent when viewing the player personnel’s combined 63.9 percent accuracy from the charity stripe.
Wildcats Show Proof of Vaccination and Are Declared the Winner …
Winning for Kentucky on Wednesday night starts and stops by paying attention to the A&M backcourt personnel standing at the 3-point line and standing tall on the defensive and offensive glass.
The Wildcats opponent tonight, Texas A&M, has squared off against below-average Division I programs. Further distressing for A&M faithful is that the Aggies have allowed the team’s schedule lower-class Division I foes to rebound over 30 percent of their missed shots. The 30.8 percent of missed shots that the Aggies surrender ranks them 270th in the highest level of collegiate hoops.
Calipari’s roster is the 4th most efficient offense, and 27th ranked defense in college basketball, according to the KenPom metrics. As a team, Kentucky has the 14th best shooting percentage from the field and holds their game night foe to a lower shooting rate than 331 of the 358 Division I teams. In addition, the Cats shoot nearly 75 percent from the charity stripe and rebound over 40 percent of their missed shots.
Player of the Year candidate Oscar Tshiebwe, a 6’9″ junior power forward, senior guards Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady plus already mentioned TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler give coach Cal the best first five and deepest bench in the college ranks.
Kentucky vs Texas A&M Prediction
Aggies coach Buzz Williams has done a masterful job with this roster. After losing most of his key pieces from last season through the transfer wormhole this past offseason, Williams has his group of player personnel outperforming their skill set by leaps and bounds.
Texas A&M is, was in just a few hours, riding an eight-game winning streak, seven of which are Quad 3 folder fodder or worse. Unfortunately, Texas A&M’s winning streak ends before intermission arrives tonight, and while Kentucky doesn’t perform an encore of Saturday’s dance with Tennessee, the margin of victory is similar.
The WagerTalk pick to click at Reed Arena in College Station is a play on Kentucky minus the points.
Wednesday on WagerTalk TV:
⛳️10am ET: Tee Time from Vegas
🏒11am ET: Puck Time
☕️12pm ET: WagerTalk Today
🏀1:45pm ET: NCAAB Tip-Off
🏀4:15pm ET: NBA Tip-Off
🗣️6pm ET: The Hustle Pod
💰Evening: Bet On It
📺YouTube: https://t.co/R6HAcE68lq
📺Twitch: https://t.co/FJVMFlJPBK pic.twitter.com/0LsBs96oRX— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) January 19, 2022
Kentucky vs Texas A&M Preview from GoldSheet
NCAAB Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his College Basketball Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Wednesday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Kentucky vs Texas A&M contest.
Happy Hour Tip-Off Show
Get your daily fix of college hoops betting information with Joe Raineri and a rotating panel of handicapping guests. The Happy Hour Tip-Off Show will broadcast Monday through Friday at 1:45pm ET / 10:45am PT. Pull up a barstool and join us as we break down tonight’s college basketball card, including this Kentucky vs Texas A&M clash, from a sports betting perspective.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the college basketball point spreads, moneylines, first half lines and betting percentages for all of Tuesday’s NCAAB games, including this Kentucky vs Texas A&M showdown, from your desktop or phone.
**************************************************
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
