Betting odds, spread for Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Kentucky Wildcats men’s college basketball game

Posted by Admin December 7, 2024 Basketball

After years of battling in the West Coast Conference, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has a concrete understanding of what makes Gonzaga so potent on the offensive end of the floor.

As Pope — who spent the previous five seasons at BYU — broke down the intricacies of his upcoming opponent during a press conference earlier this week, he highlighted the different ways in which the Bulldogs get their post players open looks on the low block. Paint points have been a staple of Gonzaga’s offense under Few, though Pope knows there’s much more to the equation than the bigs alone.

“Post entry is complicated sometimes, and [Few] feels really comfortable being able to set up his sets,” Pope said. “So that would be the only thing that is a little bit unique to them, schematically, in terms of how they get post entries, but they pretty much do it all … they beat you in transition, they beat you to the 3-point line. They have three incredibly, incredibly explosive guards that are getting a ton of work done right now. They’re a dangerous, dangerous team.”

Pope’s Wildcats (7-1) have been just as lethal out of the gate. Kentucky leads the country in scoring offense (92.9 points per game) heading into its top 10 showdown with Gonzaga at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday. Conversely, the Zags are No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency and put up just over 90 points per outing through the first month of the season.

It shouldn’t be a surprise then that FanDuel Sportsbook set the over/under for Saturday’s highly-anticipated matchup at a staggering 165.5 points. For comparison, only one other Division-I game on Saturday has an over/under set for at least 160 points.

Though the point total is high, a shootout between these two well-oiled offenses seems likely based on their track records. The “over” has hit in six of Gonzaga’s eight games this season, while five of Kentucky’s eight games so far have ended with the “over” hitting.

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook