West Virginia vs Kentucky | Prediction & Pick

Mountaineers look to tame Wildcats in Tampa

In a rematch of last year’s Elite 8, the West Virginia Mountaineers will take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a third round Eastern Region matchup on Saturday in Tampa.

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# 5 West Virginia (21-11, 11-7 Big East) vs. #4 Kentucky (26-8, 10-6 SEC)

Date/Time: Saturday, March 19, 12:15 PM ET
Venue: St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL.
Broadcast: CBS

Money Line: West Viginia +140, Kentucky -160
Spread: Kentucky -3.5
Over/Under: 131.5

West Virginia handled a cold-shooting Kentucky team stocked with future NBA players almost from the opening tip in that win, and now will try to build off the success they had in their last tournament appearance, when they went to the Final Four last season.

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They started on the right foot, beating 12th-seeded Clemson in the second round on Thursday, 84-76. But the Mountaineers were sloppy allowing the Tigers to build up an early double-digit lead before rallying back to overcome their sluggish start.

Joe Mazzulla scored 12 points for West Virginia, including two free throws that put the Mountaineers up 76-71 with 1:43 to go. A couple steals on consecutive Clemson possessions thwarted any chance for a Tigers comeback.

Darryl Bryant scored 19 points and Kevin Jones added 17 as West Virginia coach Bob Huggins’ squad finished 27-for-55 from the field.

Meanwhile, Kentucky, who are back in the tournament for the second straight season and for the 19th time in the last 20 seasons, edged out Princeton 59-57 on Thursday, tying North Carolina with 102 wins in the NCAA tournament, the most all-time.

Playing in his first NCAA tournament game, Brandon Knight’s driving layup with two seconds remaining lifted Kentucky to its smallest margin of victory in the round of 64.  The Tigers hounded Knight for much of the game, doubling him on drives, putting a hand in his face on the perimeter and contesting every shot. The freshman phenom failed to reach double figures for the first time in 29 games, finishing the game with just two-points.

Knight’s game-winning basket was the biggest contribution Kentucky got from its trio of talented freshmen. Terrence Jones finished with 10 points, and Doron Lamb added seven.

John Calipari is no stranger to the tournament, and the Wildcats are surly no pussycats. The play hard and fast and I don’t expect Knight to be beaten down for a second time.

West Virginia would love to end the ‘Cats run for a second time and will count on Mazzulla to help them do it again. He along with Mitchell, Bryant and Jones, will make a formidable trio.

The odds makers have the Kentucky Wildcats as a -3.5 point favorite with an over/under of 131.5.

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Prediction: Kentucky’s freshmen are good, but an experienced Mountaineers squad should be able to outlast the Wildcats.

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