Kentucky Wildcats vs Missouri Tigers Prediction, 3/12/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Missouri Tigers

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026

Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN

TV: SEC Network

The Missouri Tigers (20-11) are hosting the Kentucky Wildcats (19-12) at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday in the SEC Tournament.

The Kentucky Wildcats faced off with Florida and ended up losing by a score of 84-77 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 25 while Florida accounted for 16 fouls. They also buried 8 out of their 18 attempts from three-point range. Florida finished shooting 62.5% when shooting free throws by knocking down 20 of their 32 attempts. Moreover, Florida collected 38 boards (11 offensive, 27 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Florida dished out 20 assists and had 7 steals in the matchup. Regarding defense, Kentucky let their opponent shoot 45.9% from the floor on 28 out of 61 shooting. They also recorded 17 assists for the game in addition to forcing 9 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Concerning grabbing boards, they earned 32 with 12 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 17 of their 21 attempts for a percentage of 81.0%. Kentucky finished with a 39.4% FG percentage (26 of 66) and made 8 of 23 3-point attempts.

Otega Oweh is someone who was a contributor for this game. He finished shooting 38.1% from the floor and also distributed 2 dimes. He played for 38 minutes played and also snagged 5 rebounds. He finished with 28 points on 8 out of 21 shooting.

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Kentucky heads into this game with a mark of 19-12 for the season. They currently have an average of 81.2 points per game (66th in D-1) while hitting 46.6% from the floor. The Wildcats are hitting 34.9% on 3-pointers (258 of 740) and 72.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Kentucky is pulling in 38.3 boards per game and is sitting with 502 assists so far this year, which has them ranked 72nd in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 10.7 times per game and as a group are committing 18.3 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats are forcing 10.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.0 personal fouls. They are ranked 230th in D-1 in giving up assists with 441 relinquished on the season. The Wildcats defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 42.3% (777 of 1,839) and they concede 33.9 boards per game as a unit. They are surrendering 32.1% on three-point shots while they are 181st in the country in PPG allowed (73.7).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Missouri Tigers took a loss by a final score of 88-84 against Arkansas. The Tigers were able to corral 24 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 31 for the contest. They turned the ball over 12 times, while earning 6 steals for the contest. Arkansas earned 20 fouls for this contest which took the Tigers to the charity stripe for 24 attempts. They were able to knock down 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. Pertaining to shooting from downtown, Missouri knocked down 6 out of their 20 tries (30.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Tigers finished the game shooting 30 out of 63 from the field which gave them a rate of 47.6%. The Tigers permitted Arkansas to convert 33 out of 67 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 49.3% for this game. They finished 50.0% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 8 of 16 and finished the game at 14 of 22 from the free throw line (63.6%). When discussing team rebounding, Missouri allowed Arkansas to pull down 35 in total (10 offensive).

Mark Mitchell was important for the Tigers in the game. He racked up 32 points in his 43 mins on the court and had 4 assists in this matchup. He buried 11 of 20 for the game giving him a rate of 55.0%, and had 4 rebounds.

Missouri has a win-loss record of 20-11 on the year. The Tigers are responsible for committing 17.5 fouls every game and they shoot 68.7% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.3 times per contest (152nd in the country) and they are turning it over 12.3 times per contest. Missouri has totaled 2,477 points for the year (79.9 per game) and they pull down 35.6 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Tigers are shooting 49.1% from the floor, which is ranked 25th in the country.

The Tigers on defense are ranked 222nd in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 75.3. They are able to force 11.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.4% from the field (129th in college). The Missouri defense allows 36.7% on 3-pointers (288 of 784) and opponents are converting on 74.5% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 13.0 assists and 32.2 rebounds per game, which is 156th and 58th in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Missouri and under the total points

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