Santa Clara Broncos vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 3/20/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Santa Clara Broncos vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Friday, March 20, 2026

Location: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Santa Clara (+3)

The Santa Clara Broncos (26-8) are on their way to Enterprise Center on Friday where they will play the Kentucky Wildcats (21-13) in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky is 3-point favorites. The total is set at 160.

The Santa Clara Broncos took the court against Gonzaga and went home with a loss by a final score of 79-68 in their last contest. Santa Clara finished the contest with a 38.2% FG percentage (26 of 68) and buried 9 of their 34 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Broncos converted 7 of 8 tries for a rate of 87.5%. Regarding hauling in rebounds, they collected 33 with 13 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 13 dimes in the matchup as well as forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and having 7 steals. With regard to defending, Santa Clara allowed the other team to shoot 52.8% from the floor on 28 out of 53 shooting. Gonzaga recorded 24 assists and had 4 steals for the game. On top of that, Gonzaga collected 32 rebounds (12 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Gonzaga shot 56.5% from the free throw line by burying 13 of their 23 shots. They converted 10 of 25 attempts from distance. In regard to fouls, the Broncos ended up with 20 and Gonzaga recorded 9 fouls.

Christian Hammond is a player who was important for this contest. He ended up going 56.3% from the floor and also recorded 3 assists. He played for 33 mins played and snagged 2 rebounds. He accounted for 24 points on 9 out of 16 shooting.

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Santa Clara enters this matchup with a record of 26-8 so far this year. They lose possession via turnover 10.8 times per contest and as a group are committing 19.5 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Santa Clara is pulling in 35.7 rebounds per game and has accumulated 570 assists for the campaign, which has them ranked 25th in college in terms of passing the rock. The Broncos are hitting 34.6% on 3-pointers (344 of 994) and 73.6% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 82.9 points per contest (38th in D-1) while hitting 46.8% from the field.

On defense, the Broncos are able to force 14.1 turnovers per game and they draw 15.4 fouls. They are giving up 32.7% from 3-point land and they are 136th in the country in opponents PPG (72.4). The Broncos defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.1% (852 of 1,891) and they relinquish 33.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They rank 330th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 518 conceded for the season.

The last time they took the court, the Kentucky Wildcats took a loss by a final score of 71-63 when they faced Florida. The Wildcats collected 21 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 29 in this matchup. They also coughed up the ball 11 times, while getting 9 steals for the game. Florida earned 19 personal fouls in the game which took the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 20 attempts. They were able to convert 16 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 80.0%. In reference to shots from 3-point land, Kentucky made 5 out of their 23 attempts (21.7%). When all was said and done, the Wildcats walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 59 from the field which had them shooting 35.6%. The Wildcats permitted Florida to convert 22 of 58 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 37.9% for the game. They finished 15.0% from distance by connecting on 3 out of 20 and finished the contest at 24 of 33 at the free throw line (72.7%). In relation to attacking the glass, Kentucky allowed Florida to pull down 45 in total (16 on the offensive side).

Denzel Aberdeen pitched in for the Wildcats in this contest. He buried 5 of 11 for the game for a field goal rate of 45.5%, and added 5 rebounds. He accumulated 17 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 3 dimes in this matchup.

Kentucky has a record of 21-13 this season. The Wildcats commit 18.4 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 72.8% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 16.0 times per game (63rd in the nation) and they turn it over 10.5 times per contest. Kentucky has tallied 2,746 pts for the season (80.8 per game) and they pull in 37.5 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Wildcats are shooting 46.4% from the field, which is ranked 103rd in D-1.

The Kentucky defense gives up 31.6% from downtown (252 of 797) and their opposition knocks down 73.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 13.9 dimes and 34.4 rebounds per game, which is 227th and 185th in the nation. The Wildcats on the defensive side of the court are 182nd in the nation in PPG given up with 73.8. They are able to force 11.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 42.5% from the field (86th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Santa Clara (+3)

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