NCAA Basketball FREE PLAY: NORTH CAROLINA at KENTUCKY (12/5)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL — December 5

NORTH CAROLINA at KENTUCKY
(Kentucky -3) — John Calipari has his Wildcats off to a 7-0 star, and there are some people who are trying to tout freshman guard John Wall as perhaps the best college player in the country. That may turn out to be true by season’s end, and indeed Wall is making for a nice combo with forward Patrick Patterson. But Patterson has been experiencing ankle problems lately, and Wall’s colleagues in the Kentucky are having some difficulty staying under control in Calipari’s dribble-drive offense, as the team is committing over 17 turnovers a game. I’m not so sure North Carolina point guard Larry Drew can handle Wall, but the Tar Heels may “go big” in the backcourt and use Marcus Ginyard to hassle the youngster. Meanwhile, the Heels should extract a frontcourt advantage. Tyler Zeller, who didn’t play much last year, is showing signs of why he was a top recruit. Senior Deon Thompson is a brute, averaging 17 points and eight rebounds. And Ed Davis, another part of last year’s stellar freshman class that included Zeller and Drew, is on his way to becoming a monster in the paint, registering nine rebounds and two and a half blocks per contest. Tyler Hansbrough supplied a certain kind of strength on the front line, but after the departure of Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington this team had to shift to more muscle. It has, and it plays into a weakness of Kentucky’s right now.

THE PLAY: NORTH CAROLINA +3 ***

(All information is for news matter only; All games are graded on a scale of 1-4 stars. Lines are subject to change)