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What Happened Last Night
Thanksgiving weekend closed with one SEC team getting a big win that will help its case in March, and another one just narrowly missing one.
- Florida 65, Miami 56: Oh, hello, Keith Stone. No, not the guy from the old Keystone Light commercials, but Florida redshirt freshman Keith Stone, who had 15 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. In Florida’s first six games of the season, Stone had 6 points and 6 rebounds... total. That gave the Gators a big boost on a day when Florida’s big guns were quiet: KeVaughn Allen had 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting, and Canyon Barry had a goose egg in the points column.
- UCLA 74, Texas A&M 67: D.J. Hogg had a touch of Danuel House syndrome on Sunday night, as the sophomore shot 4-of-18 from the floor. That’s sort of a weird quirk of Billy Kennedy’s offense (if you want to put it kindly); occasionally, one of his star players will have a clunker and compound it by throwing up a ton of shots. Tyler Davis did Tyler Davis things (16 points, 8 boards) but the Aggies couldn’t quite catch a UCLA team that shot 12-of-26 from beyond the arc. This loss won’t hurt Texas A&M much except in the “missed opportunities” column.
Tonight’s Schedule
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky vs. Arizona State | 7:00 PM | ESPN2/WatchESPN |
| Northwestern State at Mississippi State | 7:00 PM | SEC Network/WatchESPN |
| Mount St. Mary's at Arkansas | 8:00 PM | SEC Network+/WatchESPN |
| North Carolina Central at Missouri | 8:00 PM | SEC Network+/WatchESPN |
After the highs of Thanksgiving weekend and its holiday tournaments, college basketball will now settle in for a few weeks consisting of mostly buy games involving bad opponents and, of course, finals week (when most teams won’t play at all.) Kentucky is in the Bahamas to play a team you’ve heard of, but Arizona State — currently 4-2 and 79th in KenPom — is a team that the Wildcats should beat pretty easily. Other than that, SEC teams play teams ranked 228th (North Carolina Central), 267th (Mount St. Mary’s), and 308th (Northwestern State.) You know, they put these games on television (or at least streaming) so the government can figure out who the real psychopaths are.
Odds and Picks
Yesterday: 1-1 ATS; Season to Date: 21-29-1 ATS
- Kentucky (-16) vs. Arizona State: Kentucky’s closest game on the young season was a 21-point win over Michigan State. Arizona State lost to Northern Iowa by 19. I think I’ll go with the Wildcats to cover here.
- Northwestern State at Mississippi State (-13): While the Bulldogs are going to struggle — a lot — without Quinndary Weatherspoon (see: 14-point loss to Lehigh last time out), they’re going up against a team that beat Division III LeTourneau by five points — and lost to Missouri by 24 over the weekend. I think Mississippi State can pretty much name the final score here.