SEC Conference Tournament Final Tips
Scott Morris | March 15, 2015
For just the first time in the past 16 years, the Kentucky Wildcats will play the Arkansas Razorbacks for the SEC tournament championship. The two are this year’s premier programs in the conference and two of the top in the nation.
This is the fourth season under Mike Anderson at Arkansas and the program is returning to where it was for so many years under Nolan Richardson who won a national championship in 1994 over the Duke Blue Devils.
Arkansas has Bobby Portis the Player of the Year in the SEC and Michael Qaulis who can slash to the hoop. The Razorbacks press, make teams turn the ball over on defense and can shoot from downtown as evidenced by hitting 35% on the year.
However, before handing the SEC title to the Razorbacks they much defeated the nation’s best team. The Wildcats are 33-0 straight up on the season and are favored by a whopping 13.5 points on most sportsbooks.
On Saturday, as 24-point chalk, the Wildcats defeated Auburn by 24. Kentucky was ahead by 28 at one time but a push was all bettors got out of the final outcome. However, the 158 points cashed well OVER the point total of 137 given by the odds makers.
Arkansas defeated Georgia 60-49 as a favorite of 2.5 points to advance to its first final in the SEC tournament in 8 seasons. The over/under was 145 and the 109 easily cashed on the UNDER.
Portis must play better against Kentucky if the Razorbacks are to have any shot at defeating the Wildcats. Against Georgia, Portis hit just one of his 14 shots and scored 4 points, his low for the season. However, he did pull down 12 boards on the game.
Kentucky and Arkansas played head to head February 18. The Wildcats led at halftime by 16 points and eventually won by 17 points as a home favorite by 15.5 points.
Six times this season Arkansas has been the underdog and is 3-3 straight up and 4-2 against the spread. The OVER has gone 5-1 in the past 6 games for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks are a solid pick to cover, the Wildcats straight up and look for the UNDER to cash.
