Conn Louisville Betting – Cardinals Run Huskies Out Of Louisville
Online betting players will get a rare treat in the form of a major-conference Friday night game this week as Connecticut heads to Louisville in a Big East showdown. Both teams will have a quick turnaround as they play on Wednesday, and you can expect the uptempo Cardinals to try and turn this game into a track meet, which doesn’t bode well for the Huskies.
- What: NCAA Basketball Betting
- When: Friday, February 18th, 9:00 PM ET
- Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
- Pick: Louisville Cardinals
Why Bet On UConn (19-5, 7-5 Big East as of Tuesday)
The Huskies still have host Georgetown on Wednesday before heading to Louisville, and they’re coming off a much-needed 18-point win over Providence at home over the weekend. They got a big contribution off the bench from Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, who dropped 25 points, and the Huskies need someone who will take the pressure off scoring leader Kemba Walker, who shoulders a big load in the UConn offense. The Huskies are 56th in points scored, but their strength may come in their defense; even though UConn gives up almost 66 points per game, they make their opponents work for it, holding their opponents under 40% from the field. The Huskies are also sixth in the country in blocked shots, led by sophomore Alex Oriakhi and senior Charles Okwandu, who swatted four shots against Providence.
Offensively, the Huskies don’t shoot very well from the field, coming in 234th in field-goal percentage and they shot just under 34% from beyond the arc. But their biggest problem is secondary scoring as Walker struggled prior to the Providence game, and the Huskies need players like Coombs-McDaniel, as well as the freshman duo of Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier to help Walker out.
Why Bet On Louisville (19-6, 8-5 Big East as of Tuesday)
The Cardinals also have to play on Wednesday, and they’ll be in Cincinnati before UConn comes to town. Louisville edged Syracuse by four points on Saturday behind 45 points from a pair of guards, senior Preston Knowles and junior Kyle Kuric. The Cardinals like to get up and down the floor and play at a high pace on both ends of the floor, coming in 27th in points scored, and they pass the ball around, ranking fifth in assists. They also gamble on the defensive side of the ball, ranking seventh in steals, and the Cardinals aren’t going to let you breathe for a second. But Louisville has been getting good production out of junior forward Terrence Jennings, who has five straight games of 10 points or more, but he is also hitting the glass, which is a sore point when it comes to the Cardinals, who are 112th in total rebounds.
One drawback of the Cardinals’ run-and-gun style is that they turn the ball over a lot (189th in turnovers), but since they get a high number of assists, their assist-to-turnover ratio isn’t that bad (28th in the country). The Cardinals also commit a ton of fouls and they’re terrible at the foul line, shooting just over 66% at the charity stripe. That could be the difference between one or two more wins in the Big East tournament as well as the NCAA.
How The Game Will Play Out
The Cardinals will likely be the NCAA basketball betting favorites in UConn’s first trip to the KFC Yum! Center, and these two split their last four games at Freedom Hall before Louisville moved to a new arena. The Cardinals are 16-2 SU at home this season, along with a 7-5 ATS mark, while UConn is a solid 6-3 ATS on the road. Louisville edged the Huskies 79-78 at UConn in a double-overtime thriller that may have been the best game in the Big East this season, and the Cardinals held the Huskies to 37.7% from the field. The Huskies are tough to gauge on the road as they’ve won at Texas, but they got throttled at Madison Square Garden by St. John’s. UConn has to keep the Cardinals, specifically guard Peyton Siva, out of the lane and make Louisville a jump-shooting team. On the other end of the floor, the Huskies need to go inside to Oriakhi to try and slow this game down because of Louisville dictates the pace, it’s going to be a long night for UConn. We think Louisville is going to ride their home crowd and pressure UConn’s freshman guards, which puts too much pressure on Walker. Go with Louisville in your sports betting picks.
UConn Louisville Betting Pick: Louisville Cardinals
