The battle for SEC supremacy continues on Tuesday when the No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats (15-6, 4-4 SEC) head to Mississippi for a matchup against the No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels (16-6, 5-4 SEC).
Kentucky will be fresh off a loss inside Rupp Arena to former coach John Calipari and his Arkansas Razorbacks. The Wildcats enjoyed a blistering start to the season before losing three of their past four games during SEC play.
Ole Miss is in a similar position. The Rebels started their season at 15-2, including an upset over No. 4 Alabama. Since that game, Ole Miss has lost four of their five SEC matchups to ranked opponents.
Will the Wildcats or Rebels emerge victorious on Tuesday night? We’ll cover that and our three best player prop bets from tonight’s SEC matchup.
Kentucky’s offense is led by junior guard Otega Oweh. In his first season with the Wildcats, Oweh has increased almost every statistic during his junior season. He’s scoring 15.6 points, grabbing 4.5 rebounds, and finishing with 1.7 assists per night this season.
In Saturday’s loss to Arkansas, the Razorbacks limited him to just 10 points, his second consecutive contest with less than his season average. While the Wildcats’ game plan will feature attacking the undersized Rebels, bettors should expect him to find his rhythm on Tuesday and cover this player prop bet.
The Rebels rely on 6-foot-1 senior Sean Pedulla to power their offense. This season, the former Virginia Tech guard is averaging 15.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while playing in at least 32 minutes per contest.
For five consecutive outings, Pedulla has been on fire and finished with at least 21 combined points and assists. With the Kentucky game expected to be a matchup between two potent offenses, bettors should expect him to accomplish that on Tuesday and cover his player prop bet.
The Wildcats have found a strong big in seven-footer Amari Williams. The senior – who played at Drexel for four seasons – has improved significantly at Kentucky, averaging 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest.
In five of the past six outings, he’s recorded at least 11 rebounds each time for the Wildcats. Ole Miss will often feature a smaller lineup, giving the fifth-year player a chance again to shine on Tuesday. Bettors should expect him to finish with double-digit rebounding totals, covering this player prop bet.
With both teams struggling recently, this game is a toss-up. Although Ole Miss is favored by 4.5 points, Kentucky should make this a contest throughout the night. While I’d expect the home team to win, neither the Rebels nor the Wildcats have smothering defenses. That’s why taking the over on the combined point total is the safest bet for Tuesday’s matchup.
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Earnest is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He's spent the majority of his early years working as a sports reporter and editor. He made the move back to the digital world in 2022, joining EatWatchBet as a senior writer. Ernie covers college football betting, fantasy football, and NFL betting for EatWatchBet.