Missouri vs Kentucky SEC finale may be college basketball’s most important game this weekend
No. 19 Kentucky battles No. 15 Missouri in Columbia in both teams’ final regular season game on Saturday.
And it may just be the week’s most important game for each bracket’s sake
Mizzou’s ranking is bound to fall as the Tigers have dropped back-to-back games against unranked opponents They’ve lost three of their last four and have allowed a whopping 95 PPG over those three losses.
Similarly, Kentucky has not been hot recently, sitting at just 3-3 in its last six games. However, the Wildcats have picked up seven wins against top-15 ranked teams this season.
Mizzou isn’t far behind, having four such wins this season against teams like No. 1 Kansas and No. 5 Florida.
Offensively, these teams are both some of the best in the SEC. Kentucky has the second-best scoring offense in the SEC, averaging 85.6 PPG. Mizzou is not far behind, putting up 84.6 PPG.
Defensively, both teams are below average, but Mizzou has a massive advantage on that side of the ball. Missouri has a top-ten scoring defense in the SEC, allowing a respectable 72.6 PPG. On the other hand, Kentucky has a bottom-two scoring defense in the SEC, allowing 76.8 opponent PPG.
Mizzou is also a team full of guys with active hands as the Tigers average 9.7 steals per game, a factor that will likely come into play here as the Wildcats give the ball away 10.9 times per game, good for middle of the pack in the SEC.
The Tigers have also been the more dominant team this season, winning by an average of 12 PPG while Kentucky wins by just 8.8 PPG.
Statistically, Mizzou is the better team, and they’re simply better in too many key categories to look over here. This is as close to a 50/50 matchup as any game this season. On paper at least.
Mizzou is the colder team, and its defense has been terrible in its last three losses. That said, the Tigers will come out on top and gain some momentum ahead of the
