Kentucky is laying points in first road game against Notre Dame

The Kentucky Wildcats are hitting the road for the first time this season on Saturday evening. However, John Calipari’s squad will be a betting favorite for the eighth game in a row when facing Notre Dame.

Out in the desert, the Wildcats are a five-point road favorite at multiple books with a total of 143, per Vegas Insider. That’s a projected final score of 74-69. Kentucky is 3-5 against the spread (ATS) this season and Notre Dame is 1-6 ATS. The Irish have been underdogs twice and failed to cover against Saint Mary’s and Illinois.

The under has had a strong run recently for Kentucky. The Wildcats are on a three-game run with the under cashing and 5-1 in their last six. The outside shooting has had some cold spells, and defensively this team is doing just enough to get stops.

Kentucky-Notre Dame series history

The Wildcats and Fighting Irish are no strangers to each other. On Saturday, the programs will play a basketball game for the 64th time.

Kentucky owns a 43-20 series lead, but the Irish have had a ton of recent success. After winning 10 consecutive games in the series from 1990-2004, Notre Dame has won 3 of the last 5 under Brey.

Notre Dame came into Rupp Arena last season and recorded an upset win. The Irish were up 33-9 with under 10 minutes to go in the first half, but Kentucky clawed its way back behind 22 points from Olivier Sarr. However, the Wake Forest transfer missed a shot at the buzzer to win the game for the Wildcats.

Before that meeting, Kentucky knocked off the Irish in the Elite Eight back in 2015. The Irish were up by six with just six minutes remaining, but an undefeated Kentucky team found a way to secure a 68-66 victory in Cleveland behind 25 points from Karl-Anthony Towns as Notre Dame refused to double the post.

The Wildcats and Irish will add another chapter to their history on Saturday as Kentucky looks to begin another winning streak in this series.