The South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Kentucky is favored by 11.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -700. The total is set at 151.5 points.
Here are my South Carolina vs. Kentucky predictions and college basketball picks for February 8, 2025.
South Carolina vs Kentucky Prediction
My Pick: PASS | Lean South Carolina +11.5
My South Carolina vs Kentucky best bet is on the Gamecocks spread, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
South Carolina vs Kentucky Odds
| South Carolina Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+11.5 -110 | 151.5 -110 / -110 | +500 |
| Kentucky Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-11.5 -110 | 151.5 -110 / -110 | -700 |
- South Carolina vs Kentucky spread: Kentucky -11.5
- South Carolina vs Kentucky over/under: 151.5 points
- South Carolina vs Kentucky moneyline: Kentucky -700, South Carolina +500
- South Carolina vs Kentucky best bet: PASS | Lean South Carolina +11.5
Spread
I'm passing on this game altogether. But if I had to bet it, I'd take the points with South Carolina.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the total.
My Pick: PASS | Lean South Carolina +11.5
South Carolina vs Kentucky College Basketball Betting Preview
I would love to bet Kentucky here. Saturday is an excellent buy-low bounce-back spot for the Wildcats after four losses in the past five games, and it should be easy to overwhelm the SEC’s worst team at home.
That said, I don’t think I can do it.
For starters, Kentucky is a high-variance team that tends to play up and down to competition.
Mark Pope’s elite motion-based offense keeps the Wildcats in games with elite competition.
Still, the Wildcats’ lackluster interior defense allows inferior opponents to hang around — especially when they keep getting bludgeoned in the shot-volume battle (-29 field goal attempt margin in conference play, 11th in the SEC, per CBB Analytics).
As such, they’re 4-1 ATS as underdogs but 7-10 ATS as favorites. Most recently, they lost outright as favorites against Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
Meanwhile, South Carolina keeps hanging around with better teams. The Gamecocks have recently covered against Auburn (three-point loss as double-digit ‘dogs), Florida (one-point loss as double-digit ‘dogs), Mississippi State (overtime loss) and Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks often keep up with the elites of the SEC by slowing the game down and mucking it up, and that’ll be important against an up-tempo Kentucky offense.
Of greater importance, South Carolina’s deep drop-coverage defense is elite in catch-and-shoot denial, which is crucial against Kentucky’s dribble hand-off and off-ball-screening actions.
The Gamecocks’ defensive structure forces opponents into methodical on-ball dribble creation, which the Wildcats aren’t comfortable doing, especially with Kerr Kriisa and Lamont Butler (questionable, shoulder) sidelined with injuries.
Jaxson Robinson (undisclosed) is also questionable for this game.
On the other end of the court — South Carolina runs a methodical interior motion offense that feeds almost everything through Collin Murray-Boyles in the post.
The Gamecocks run plenty of high-low, inside-out, cutting and posting actions, which should all play against Kentucky’s brutal post-up (.93 PPP allowed, 23rd percentile, per Synergy) and rolling (1.17 PPP allowed, 13th percentile, per Synergy) defense.
Amari Williams is a super versatile offensive weapon as a hub in Pope’s offense, but I think he’s a tad vulnerable on the other end.
Plus, backup center Brandon Garrison is a sieve at the rim. The Wildcats rank 16th in the SEC in 2-point shooting allowed for a reason (59%, per KenPom).
From a schematic perspective, I like South Carolina. But the situational spot is keeping me away — this is almost a “must-win” for Kentucky, and the Wildcats could demolish the inferior Gamecocks at home with enough motivation, especially if the 3s fall.
