North Carolina Central Eagles vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/9/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Central Eagles vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: SEC Network

The Kentucky Wildcats (5-4) are hosting the North Carolina Central Eagles (3-8) at Rupp Arena on Tuesday.

The North Carolina Central Eagles stepped onto the hardwood against North Carolina A&T and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 69-54 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Eagles ended up finishing with 24 and North Carolina A&T finished the game with 20 personal fouls. They also converted 4 of 16 shots from beyond the perimeter. North Carolina A&T went 71.4% at the free throw line by making 25 of 35 shots. Additionally, North Carolina A&T pulled down 47 rebounds (11 offensive, 36 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. North Carolina A&T earned 11 assists and had 5 steals for the contest. When it comes to the defense, North Carolina Central let their opponent shoot 42.6% from the field on 20 out of 47 shooting. They also dished out 8 assists in the game as well as creating 18 turnovers and getting 13 steals. With respect to pulling down boards, they collected 29 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Eagles made 22 of 30 shots for a rate of 73.3%. North Carolina Central finished with a 26.8% field goal percentage (15 out of 56) and converted 2 of 18 3-point attempts.

Dionte Johnson is someone who was a factor in this contest. He finished the contest at 33.3% from the field and also dished out 3 assists. He was on the court for 34 mins and snagged 3 rebounds. He walked away with 12 points on 2 out of 6 shooting.

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North Carolina Central enters this contest with a record of 3-8 this season. They are averaging 71.1 pts per game (304th in the nation) while shooting 40.1% from the floor. The Eagles are shooting 32.6% on shots from downtown (70 of 215) and 74.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, North Carolina Central is collecting 33.2 boards per contest and has 159 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 68th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turn it over 11.7 times per game and as a squad are committing 19.7 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Eagles have forced 15.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.4 fouls. They are 337th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 167 surrendered for the year. The Eagles are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.6% (270 of 606) and they surrender 40.5 rebounds per contest as a unit. They relinquish 35.9% on shots from downtown and they rank 264th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (77.2).

In their last game, the Kentucky Wildcats went home defeated by a final of 94-59 when they played Gonzaga. Regarding how they rebounded, Kentucky permitted Gonzaga to pull down 40 overall (10 offensive). They went 50.0% from beyond the arc by going 9 out of 18 and ended up going 13 of 16 from the free throw line (81.3%). The Wildcats permitted Gonzaga to convert 36 of their 63 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 57.1% in this matchup. Overall, the Wildcats went 16 for 60 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 26.7%. Concerning shots from distance, Kentucky made 7 out of their 34 tries (20.6%). They were able to knock down 20 of them for a rate of 76.9%. Gonzaga earned 18 fouls in this game which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for 26 attempts. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while recording 6 steals for the game. The Wildcats were able to collect 17 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 27 for the game.

Otega Oweh ended up being important for the Wildcats in this matchup. He made 3 of 7 for this contest for a field goal rate of 42.9%, and accounted for 5 rebounds. He scored 16 points in his 29 mins on the hardwood and accumulated 5 dimes in this matchup.

Kentucky has a record of 5-4 so far this season. The Wildcats are responsible for committing 15.2 fouls every game and they shoot 75.0% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 18.2 times per game (35th in the nation) and they lose possession via turnover 10.4 times per contest. Kentucky has accumulated 752 pts on the year (83.6 per game) and they collect 42.8 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Wildcats are hitting on 47.4% from the field, which is ranked 100th in college hoops.

The Kentucky defense gives up 29.5% on shots from behind the 3-point line (70 of 237) and their opponents are making 66.4% of their free throw attempts. They concede 14.3 assists and 34.1 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 250th and 158th in those defensive categories. The Wildcats on defense are ranked 61st in the country in PPG given up with 67.0. They are forcing 11.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 38.7% from the field (32nd in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kentucky

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