Texas Tech vs. #13 Tennessee Expert Analysis & NCAAB Odds

Good matchup between expected contenders in the Big 12 and SEC on Tuesday night in college basketball as Texas Tech, which is unranked despite a 6-1 record, faces Tennessee, which is also 6-1 but ranked 13^th. The game is part of the Jimmy V Classic from New York and the Vols are favored on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Texas Tech vs. Tennessee NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Tennessee -2.5 (total 139.5)

Series History

Texas Tech is 1-0 all-time against Tennessee with an 88-71 win on Dec. 3, 1953 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Against the SEC, Tech is 132-144 against current SEC opponents after a 76-71 win over LSU last year during the regular season before a 68-66 loss to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Why Bet on Texas Tech?

Texas Tech comes off a 72-68 loss at Providence last Wednesday. Texas Tech’s Kevin Obanor made a 3-pointer that tied the game at 65 with 2:10 remaining. Providence’s Al Durham scored the next four points before Terrence Shannon Jr.’s deep 3-pointer pulled the Red Raiders to 69-68 with 59.3 seconds left. Durham and Alyn Breed sealed it at the free-throw line.

The Red Raiders led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 30-28 lead into the break. PC finished the game shooting 28 of 38 from the free-throw line while Tech was 17 of 24 and 10 of 15 in the second half. Shannon led Tech with 17 points in the game, while Obanor had 12 and Kevin McCullar added 10 in the team’s first true road game.

Shannon scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half after getting in early foul trouble in the first half. He finished the game shooting 6-for-11 from the field and was 2 of 7 on 3-pointers and is now leading the Red Raiders with 16.5 points per game this season. McCullar and Bryson Williams both fouled out in the game, while Shannon, Davion Warren and Marcus Santos-Silva each had four fouls.

“We had the momentum going and our guys were responding early with a great game plan,” Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. “I thought we were the most aggressive team. We got in foul trouble and I thought we lost some of our intensity. They did a great job of changing defenses to a zone and took the momentum from us. We didn’t handle their zone and then they killed us on the boards early offensively. Our defense was really good, we just couldn’t score.”

Williams is averaging 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game to begin his super senior season at Tech. Williams played two seasons at Fresno State and two at UTEP before transferring to Tech over the summer to utilize a fifth season of eligibility. He currently has scored 1,718 points and has 784 rebounds through 128 games played in his college career. McCullar is averaging 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in his third season playing for the Red Raiders.

Adams is in his first season as the head coach at Texas Tech after working as the associate head coach for the program for five seasons. His 6-0 start was the best beginning to a season for a first-year head coach at Tech.

On Tuesday, Tech is playing its first ranked opponent of the season. As a program, Tech is 61-215 all-time against ranked opponents, including going 16-24 over the past five years. The Red Raiders were 3-8 last season against ranked teams with two wins over Texas (No. 4 and No. 14) and a home win over Oklahoma which was at No. 9.

Why Bet on Tennessee?

Tennessee (6-1) won at Colorado 69-54 on Saturday in its last game. Before Saturday, Tennessee’s only road games since Jan. 25, 2020, were in SEC play, and it had not won a non-conference road game since Dec. 15, 2018, at Memphis. Colorado scored the first five points of the second half to get within five but the Volunteers went on a 10-4 run. The Buffaloes got within five again with 8:34 left but Tennessee scored the next eight points and never were threatened again.

Freshman Kennedy Chandler scored a career-high 27 points as the Vols snapped Colorado’s nine-game home win streak at CU Events Center. The Buffaloes also saw their six-game home win streak against Top-25 opponents come to a halt.

Santiago Vescovi was Tennessee’s second-leading scorer, totaling 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range. John Fulkerson joined Chandler and Vescovi in double figures with 10 points, also adding six rebounds. In his first game back after missing three games due to injury, Josiah-Jordan James logged a team-high +22 in his 26 minutes of action. James scored five points and had team-highs in both rebounds (9) and blocks (4).

Tennessee held Colorado to 19-for-55 (.345) shooting, the Buffaloes’ lowest field-goal percentage at home since Dec. 12, 2017. Colorado’s 54 points were its fewest in a home game since a 54-46 win over California on Mar. 4, 2017.

Saturday marks Tennessee’s first appearance in Madison Square Garden since winning the 2010 NIT Season Tip-Off. The Vols have competed in New York City on two separate occasions since then, both times in the Barclays Center—home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.

The Vols own a 15-19 all-time record against current members of the Big XII Conference. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is very familiar with the Red Raiders from his 17 years as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. Barnes led Texas to a 33-4 record against Texas Tech. Barnes’s 33 career wins vs. Texas Tech are his most against any opponent.