The Kentucky Wildcats enter the NCAA Tournament as the two-seed in the East Region. Their first round opponent is the St. Peter’s Peacocks, who got into the tournament as a 15-seed by winning the MAAC tournament. In our college basketball predictions for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, we look at St. Peter’s vs Kentucky in a game that is expected to be a sizable mismatch.
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St. Peter’s vs Kentucky Betting Pick
This game will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 7:10 PM ET on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Why Bet On Kentucky:
✅ St. Peter’s hangs its hat on the defensive end of the floor, as they are ranked 34th in defensive efficiency per Kenpom. But their defense-first philosophy did not work out for them against St. John’s and Providence earlier this season. They allowed at least 85 points to each of those opponents, and are unlikely to slow down Kentucky in this contest.
✅ From a matchup perspective, St. Peter’s is not equipped to handle Kentucky. Fousseyni Drame and KC Ndefo are solid bigs against MAAC competition, but they are in for a rude awakening against Oscar Tshiebwe of the Wildcats, who averages 15.1 rebounds per game and should be able to dominate this game physically.
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✅ Kentucky has taken care of business against mid-major opponents all season long. They are undefeated against teams that are not from power conferences, beating all of those opponents by at least 12 points. They have not taken anybody lightly this season, and will continue to play at a high level against an overmatched Peacocks team here.
St. Peter’s Peacocks
The St. Peter’s Peacocks enjoyed a couple of big breaks that helped them to win the MAAC tournament as the second seed. St. Peter’s beat Fairfield, Quinnipiac, and Monmouth to win the tournament. That road to the conference tournament did not include the anticipated matchups against Siena or Iona, as upsets enabled the Peacocks to avoid what would have been tougher matchups.
Here, the Peacocks are ill-equipped to deal with the Kentucky Wildcats, as their style of play does not mesh well with such a physically gifted opponent. St. Peter’s prides itself on playing defense, holding opponents under 62 points per game on the season. But their physical style may not work against a team that has bigger and faster players than what they are used to in the MAAC.
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats lost in the semifinals of the SEC tournament in their last game, falling to the Tennessee Volunteers, who went onto win that tournament. The Wildcats still earned a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament despite that loss, thanks to a 14-4 mark in conference play during the regular season. Here, the Wildcats will look to press their advantage against a St. Peter’s team that lacks the size and physicality to keep up with them.
Kentucky does have one path to vulnerability in this game, and that is through foul trouble for Oscar Tshiebwe. Against Ndefo and Drame, Tshiebwe should have the advantage on both ends of the floor. But if he gets too aggressive and picks up a couple of early fouls, the best player on the Wildcats could let the 15-seed into this contest.