Georgia Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 2/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Georgia Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN+

The Kentucky Wildcats (17-8) will compete against the Georgia Bulldogs (17-8) at Rupp Arena on Tuesday.

The Georgia Bulldogs faced off with Oklahoma and ended up losing by a score of 94-78 in their last game. In relation to fouls, the Bulldogs ended up finishing with 18 while Oklahoma recorded 13 fouls. They converted 14 out of their 25 attempts from 3-point land. Oklahoma ended up shooting 63.6% when shooting free throws by knocking down 14 of their 22 attempts. Additionally, Oklahoma collected 25 rebounds (8 offensive, 17 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Oklahoma dished out 14 assists and had 6 steals for the contest. With respect to defending, Georgia allowed 58.9% from the floor on 33 of 56 shooting. They also recorded 14 assists for the matchup while creating 7 turnovers and earning 4 steals. In relation to rebounding, they earned 24 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Bulldogs knocked down 10 of 14 tries for a rate of 71.4%. Georgia wrapped up the game with a 51.7% FG percentage (30 out of 58) and converted 8 out of their 28 shots from distance.

Blue Cain is one player who had an impact in the matchup. He ended up walking away with 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He saw the court for 34 mins and totaled 5 rebounds. He ended up shooting 60.0% from the floor and distributed 3 dimes.

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Georgia enters this contest with a mark of 17-8 so far this year. They cough up possession 11.1 times per game and as a group they are committing 16.9 fouls every game. As a unit, Georgia is collecting 39.7 rebounds per game and has accounted for 364 dimes this year, which is 187th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Bulldogs are connecting on 31.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (228 of 720) and 74.7% from the charity stripe. They average 90.3 points per game (7th in D-1) on 46.6% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Bulldogs are able to force 14.6 turnovers every game while drawing 19.2 personal fouls. They relinquish 32.8% on 3-point attempts and they rank 298th in college in PPG from their opponents (78.4). The Bulldogs defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.9% (710 of 1,654) and they surrender 38.6 boards per contest as a unit. They rank 157th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 340 surrendered so far this season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Kentucky Wildcats went home defeated by a final of 92-83 against Florida. In regard to cleaning the glass, Kentucky allowed Florida to pull down 43 in total (16 on the offensive side). They finished 35.7% from beyond the arc by going 10 of 28 and ended up shooting 22 out of 32 at the free throw line (68.8%). The Wildcats allowed Florida to convert 30 out of 66 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 45.5% in this game. When this game wrapped up, the Wildcats shot 28 for 65 from the field which had them at 43.1%. When talking about shots from distance, Kentucky converted 9 of 20 tries (45.0%). They were able to bury 18 of the free throws for a percentage of 72.0%. Florida committed 19 fouls in the matchup which took the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 25 attempts. They coughed up the ball 14 times, while earning 8 steals for the matchup. The Wildcats pulled down 21 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 34 for this game.

Denzel Aberdeen pitched in for the Wildcats in this game. He converted 8 out of 21 in the matchup giving him a rate of 38.1%, and accumulated 1 rebound. He accumulated 19 points in his 34 mins of playing time and had 4 assists in this game.

Kentucky has a record of 17-8 on the year. The Wildcats commit 18.0 fouls every game and they shoot 72.4% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 16.2 times per contest (62nd in the nation) and they lose possession via turnover 10.2 times per contest. Kentucky has 2,041 pts for the year (81.6 per game) and they collect 37.9 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Wildcats are connecting on 47.0% from the floor, which ranks them 82nd in the country.

The Kentucky defense allows 31.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (184 of 591) and their opponents are knocking down 73.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 13.9 dimes and 34.1 total boards per game, which ranks them 224th and 162nd in Division 1. The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 133rd in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 72.2. They are forcing their opponents into 11.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 41.8% from the floor (66th in Division 1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Georgia

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