**Florida at Kentucky**
--Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Kentucky (28-2 straight up, 16-12 against the spread) as a 12-point favorite. As of late Saturday, most books had UK as a 12-point 'chalk' with a total of 140.
--Kentucky bounced back from last Saturday’s loss at Tennessee to thump Georgia 80-68 Wednesday at Stegeman Coliseum. The Wildcats hooked up their backers as eight-point road favorites. John Wall was the catalyst with 24 points, six assists and three steals. Patrick Patterson added 17 points and 10 boards.
--Florida (20-10 SU, 13-12 ATS) has lost back-to-back games and is in danger of ending the regular season on a three-game losing slide. That scenario would most likely leave the Gators needing to win at least one game in the SEC Tournament. However, Billy Donovan’s squad can remove all doubt by winning outright Sunday at Rupp Arena.
--UF had the ball with a chance to win on the last possession of both aforementioned losses (at UGA and vs. Vandy) in the last week. Trailing 78-76 at Georgia last Saturday, Dan Werner passed on a clean look at a 15-foot jumper on the baseline with about 2-3 ticks remaining. Werner elected to pass the ball and a deflection sent the ball out of bounds with just 0.1 seconds left. In Tuesday’s 64-60 home loss to Vandy, Kenny Boynton had a clean look at a trey from the right wing that would’ve given the Gators the lead in the waning moments. The Gators went the last nine-plus minutes of the second half without making one bucket from the field.
--Florida owns a 5-4 spread record in nine games as an underdog. This is UF’s first double-digit ‘dog situation.
--John Calipari’s team is undefeated in 18 home games with an 8-8 spread ledger. The ‘Cats are 8-9 versus the number when listed as double-digit ‘chalk.’
--UF has an RPI of 52, while UK is No. 3 in the RPI.
--When these schools met at the O-Dome in Gainesville on Jan. 12, Kentucky collected an 89-77 win as a 3 ½-point road favorite. UK freshman guard Eric Bledsoe, who had Florida as his leader in the recruiting process before Calipari left Memphis for UK, torched the Gators for 25 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Wall added 19 points and six assists. In the losing effort, Erving Walker had a team-high 20 points.
--The ‘over’ is 14-13 for the ‘Cats, 9-6 in their home assignments. With that said, the ‘under’ is 5-2 in UK’s last seven games (regardless of the venue).
--The ‘under’ is 12-9 overall for the Gators, 4-4 in their eight true road games.
--CBS will provide television coverage at noon Eastern.
**Clemson at Wake Forest**
--LVSC opened Wake Forest (18-9 SU, 14-10 ATS) as a one-point favorite. As of late Saturday, most spots had the Demon Deacons favored by one with a total of 137.
--Clemson (21-8 SU, 14-12 ATS) is playing its best basketball of the season, winning five of its last six games. The Tigers come to Lawrence-Joel Coliseum in Winston Salem after pulling away from Ga. Tech for a 91-80 home win Tuesday as 6 ½-point home favorites. Trevor Booker enjoyed his Senior Night by erupting for 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
--Unlike Clemson, Wake Forest is slumping at the wrong time. The Demon Deacons have lost four in a row, although it did take the cash in Wednesday’s 51-47 loss at FSU as 7 ½-point underdogs. Al-Farouq Aminu took a bagel in 28 minutes of play before fouling out. Also, L.D. Williams produced just four points and one board in 34 minutes.
--Dino Gaudio’s team is 12-2 SU and 6-5 ATS at home this year.
--Wake Forest has covered the number in eight consecutive head-to-head meetings. The Deacs stroked the Tigers 96-88 as 4 ½-point home favorites in last year’s regular-season finale.
--Clemson sophomore guard Tanner Smith is “questionable” with a sprained ankle. Smith averages 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
--The ‘under’ is on a 9-2 run in Wake’s last 11 games. The ‘under’ is 14-9 overall for the Deacs, but the ‘over’ is 6-5 in their home games.
--The ‘under’ is 15-9 overall for Clemson.
--Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Eastern on FSN.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
--Saturday’s Biggest Bubble Winners:
1-Louisville (78-68 vs. Syracuse)
2-Notre Dame (63-60 at Marquette in overtime)
3-Ole Miss (68-66 at Arkansas)
4-Va. Tech (88-82 at Ga. Tech)
5-Memphis (75-53 vs. Tulsa)
--Saturday’s Biggest Bubble Losers:
1-UConn (75-68 at USF)
2-Ga. Tech (88-82 vs. Va. Tech)
3-Rhode Island (69-67 at UMass)
4-Mississippi St. (75-59 vs. Tennessee)
5-Dayton (71-66 vs. Saint Louis)
--South Carolina has really been limping down the stretch this year, but it went into Music City on Saturday and stunned Vanderbilt by a 77-73 count as a 10 ½-point road underdog. Devan Downey was the catalyst, raining deep 3’s at crunch time to propel his team into the winner’s circle with 27 points. Bettors backing the Gamecocks to win outright at the Las Vegas Hilton cashed monster plus-500 tickets (risk $100 to win $500). The costly loss might end the Commodores’ hopes of garnering a No. 3 seed unless they get to the SEC Tournament finals next week.
--With Alabama beating Auburn 73-61 as a 5 ½-point home favorite, the Tide earned the No. 4 seed in the SEC West for the league tourney in Nashville. The Tigers will now face Florida in a first-round game Thursday, with the winner advancing to face Mississippi St. in the quarterfinals on Friday.
--Don’t rule out West Virginia as a potential No. 1 seed yet. If the Mountaineers win the Big East tournament, their case for a top seed will be decent depending on what schools like Duke, Purdue and K-St. do in their respective conference tourneys.
--Winthrop garnered the second bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big South Tournament by virtue of Saturday’s 64-53 win over Coastal Carolina as a 9 ½-point underdog. The Eagles hooked up money-line backers with a payout as generous as plus-425 at the LV Hilton (risk $100 to win $425).
Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.
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