College Hoops Televised Tilts

The World Wide Leader is back open for business with its regular college basketball weekday assortment. Tuesday’s the last several seasons has meant Big Ten and SEC hoops and that is the case again this campaign. Purdue is off initial defeat of the season and returns home to take on Ohio State who is back at full strength. Kentucky is one of the two remaining unbeaten teams and heads south to chilly Florida, where the trips have been left them numbingly cold.

A teaching moment for Purdue coaches

The Boilermakers have rarely been outworked for long stretches in any game this season until they faced the Wisconsin Badgers. Purdue (14-1, 8-7 ATS) has a Midwestern blue-collar identity, but didn’t bring that same ethic to Madison and were beaten by the Badgers 73-66. Coming into tonight’s matchup, coach Matt Painter was succinct.

“We have to have a better effort than we had in Madison the other night,” Painter said on Monday. “They simply just whipped us. Wasn’t happy with the rebounding, wasn’t happy with the effort. … We’ve just got too many people watching.” The Boilermakers are 15-6 ATS after playing a road game over the last three seasons.

Ohio State (11-5, 7-9 ATS) has stumbled to start the Big Ten season, losing three of first four (all on the road). The Buckeyes were rolling along to start the season when their best player, Evan Turner, fell and broke two bones in his lower back on Dec. 5. Turner returned last week and he and his team is trying to get back into prior groove, winning against Indiana (79-54) and losing at Minnesota (73-62) last Saturday. “We’re trying to get our mojo back a little bit,” Turner said.

Ohio State has covered just one of their last eight games and is a 9.5-point underdog at Purdue. For Big Ten bettors this is not the worst news as the Buckeyes are 6-2 ATS as seven to 12.5-point underdogs and are 8-1 ATS in road games on Tuesday nights over the last three seasons. Purdue will look to commence with another winning streak and is 14-3 ATS at home after a conference game since 2007.

Tipoff is at 7:00 Eastern.

No. 2 and trying harder

Kentucky (16-0, 7-7 ATS) is off to its best start since starting 23-0 44 years ago and fans of Big Blue are ecstatic with their play and #2 ranking. The basketball world knows about guard John Wall, but other freshmen like forward DeMarcus Cousins are improving game by game, shifting the responsibility away from Wall and freeing junior Patrick Patterson, who is averaging nearly a double-double on the season. Kentucky travels into Gator country after slipping by Georgia 76-68 as 19.5-point favorites and are 8-1 ATS off a no-cover where the team won straight up as a favorite over the last three seasons.

The Gators 8-0 start is looking like a no money down Florida land contract, simply too good to be true, with a series of losses. Coach Billy Donovan has publicly stated his team needs gumption and willingness to fight thru adversity. Florida (11-4, 5-5 ATS) has floundered because of poor perimeter shooting, an inability to keep opponents off the offensive boards and careless turnovers. While losing to Syracuse was no disgrace, close defeats to Richmond and South Alabama showed a lack of spirit and determination for a squad that is 37-14 ATS versus teams connecting on 48 percent or more of their shot attempts.

Bookmaker.com has Kentucky as 3.5-point favorites with total of 142 and they are 16-6 ATS after playing three consecutive home games. Florida comes in off a loss to Vanderbilt and is 5-14 ATS after a game where they made 13 or more three-point shots. The Gators have won five straight at the O'Connell Center over Kentucky, covering the number four times. The action starts at 9 Eastern.