NCAA Tournament Odds: Wake Forest vs. Kentucky

Al-Farouq Aminu is likely the best big man in the ACC. (AP Images)

You can never be 100 percent sure how a freshman-dominated team will react in the NCAA Tournament because obviously those first-year players have never been on the big stage of the Big Dance. Well, if East No. 1 seed Kentucky’s first-round game is any indication, the Cats’ freshmen are ready to lead this team on a very deep run. UK faces No. 9 Wake Forest in the Round of 32 on Saturday in New Orleans, with Kentucky a 9-point favorite on Bodog’s college basketball odds.

Kentucky (33-2, 18-15 ATS) simply overpowered East Tennessee State on Thursday, taking a 30-point lead in the first half on the way to 100-71 victory. Guard Eric Bledsoe, who is one of the “other” freshmen on the team behind the heralded John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, had 29 points and made a school-record eight three-pointers. Wall added 17 points and 11 boards and UK shot a sick 15-for-33 from three-point range; that was the most threes it has made all year.

Wake Forest (20-10, 16-11 ATS) was involved in one of the first-round’s many fantastic finishes. The Deacons beat Texas in overtime, completing a rally from eight points down in the extra session on a game-winning shot by Ishmael Smith with 1.3 seconds remaining. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. But Wake’s star is Al-Farouq Aminu, who had 20 points and 15 boards. He led the ACC in double-doubles this season. Watching him against UK’s Patrick Patterson and Cousins will be one of the best matchups of the tournament. The Demon Deacons are one of those teams that can’t beat anyone on a given night but just as easily lose to about anyone.

In a pretty shocking stat, Kentucky hasn’t faced a member of the ACC in the NCAA Tournament since 1998. UK is 17-6 in second-round games since 1980.

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