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Tennessee Volunteers at Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview/Prop Pick

15 January 2022

 

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The Kentucky Wildcats have a forecast 87% chance to win against The Tennessee Volunteers with a spread of -7.5/7.5 and an over/under of 140.5. The Kentucky Wildcats are 0 - 0 against The Tennessee Volunteers in the 2021-22 Season.

Saturday, January 15th Tennessee Volunteers @ Kentucky Wildcats

 

 

The No.22 Tennessee Volunteers face off against the No.18 Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. Although each of these teams is coming off of a win, many are split on who to take here.

On the one hand, you have the 11-4 Tennessee Volunteers,  who come in as +4.5-point underdogs. On the other side, you have the Kentucky Wildcats, who are currently on a two-game winning streak.

These two teams have a lot in common, including their roller coaster of a season so far. The Volunteers might have a fairly good record, but they’ve been horrible against ranked teams.

They’ve faced four ranked teams so far this season and only have beaten one. The Wildcats have faced two and lost to both. So, let’s take a look at both teams and come up with our pick.

Tennessee Volunteers: Fresh off a win over South Carolina

The Volunteers head into tonight’s game riding the high of a win over South Carolina. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm might come to a halt as they face the Wildcats.

Slowing down the Wildcat offense is going to be priority number one here for the Volunteers. On average, the Wildcats score 82.56 points per game. The Volunteer defense will have their hands full tonight.

The good news for Tennessee is that they have one of the better defenses in college basketball. Per game, the Volunteers defense only allows 60.67 points per game, ranking 24th in the country.

Making use of this defense and being efficient on offense will be key to a Volunteers win. They’ll also look to Santiago Vescovi, their leading scorer, to produce on offense tonight. 

Kentucky Wildcats: Kentucky plans for their third straight win

The stage is set for Kentucky to grab their third win in a row tonight. However, it might be a lot more difficult than they first thought. This is mainly because of the Volunteers relentless defense, but also some key injuries.

CJ Fredrick is out with a hamstring injury, and Sahvir Wheeler has been upgraded to probable. We won’t trust Wheeler to play many minutes, though.

The Kentucky offense, regardless of injuries, is still one of the best in college basketball. However, we’ve seen them stumble up against teams with strong defenses.

Not long ago, they lost 65-60 to LSU; shortly before that, they lost 66-62 to Notre Dame. With Tennessee having another strong defense, we don’t think the Wildcats are the best bet in this one. 

Our pick for the Tennessee Volunteers at Kentucky Wildcats

After taking a look at what each of these teams brings to the game, we’re going with the Volunteers. Defense is clearly something the Wildcats struggle against, not to mention; they aren’t great against the spread. The Wildcats have an ATS record of 8-8 this season, which isn’t bad but not nearly as good as Tennessee. 

The Volunteers have a 9-6 record against the spread and the better defense. They can use this defense to slow down the Wildcats offense and control the pace. With the +4.5-point spread, the better bet is the Volunteers on the road against Kentucky. 

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Tennessee Volunteers +4.5, OVER

Prop Pick

Tennessee (-120) OVER 68.5 Points

The Volunteers are averaging 75.3 points per game this season. In the last three games at Rupp Arena, Tennessee has scored 82, 81 and 82 points, respectively, with all three results ending in a win for the Volunteers. The OVER has also hit in four the Kentucky’s last five home games this season.

With Dunkel predicting another Tennessee road win in the series by the score of 74-73, take the Volunteers (-120) to  finish OVER the Vegas team total of 68.5 points.

Keep up with your latest NCAAB news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.

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