Tennessee at Kentucky Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

Posted by Michael Hunt on Monday,February 13, 2017 12:54, EDT in

NCAA Basketball News, Betting Tips, Picks & Previews

It’s a payback game on Tuesday night for No. 15 Kentucky as the Wildcats host Tennessee in SEC play. The Wildcats are tied atop the conference with Florida and South Carolina. Tennessee is an NCAA Tournament bubble team but a regular-season sweep of UK would probably be enough to get the Vols into the Big Dance. They will be double-digit college basketball betting underdogs here.

Tennessee at Kentucky Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

When: Tuesday, Feb. 14, 7 PM ET
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington
TV: ESPN
Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Tennessee / Kentucky
Opening NCAAB Lines: Kentucky favored TBA

Why Bet On Tennessee?

The Vols suffered a potentially crushing 76-75 at Georgia on Saturday. Tennessee fell from No. 38 Saturday to No. 46 on Sunday in the RPI after the loss to the Bulldogs, and the Vols are now behind other bubble teams such as California, TCU, Northwestern, Michigan State, Kansas State and Arkansas. The Vols’ record — 14-11 overall, 6-6 in SEC play — is a serious weakness on the team’s résumé.

“This time of year, you better have a short memory and learn from it and move on,” UT coach Rick Barnes said after the Bulldogs came from 14 down to win, the fifth time UT has surrendered a double-digit lead in a defeat. “Tough loss, but this time of year you have to get on to next one, win or lose.”

Freshman Grant Williams tied his career high with 30 points for UT, which had won five straight at home. Williams (10-for- 16) was the only Vol to shoot better than 50 percent on the day. Robert Hubbs III added 10 points, but struggled from the field, shooting 3-for- 13. The Vols excelled at the free-throw line, going 19-for- 24 from the charity stripe.

In the second half, UT jumped out to a 14-point lead sparked by a 15-5 run. However, the Bulldogs (14-11, 5-7 SEC), led by J.J. Frazier (29 points and six assists) chipped away at the deficit until they took a 65-64 lead with 3:34 remaining in the game, after which they never trailed. The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field, and Tyree Crump added 13 points in his first career start.

The Vols and Wildcats (20-5, 10-2 SEC) are meeting for the second time in three weeks. In the first meeting between the border rivals, UT picked up an 82-80 victory over fourth-ranked UK in Knoxville. Tennessee was led that night by 25 points from Robert Hubbs III. Hubbs continues to lead the Vols in scoring, averaging 14.3 ppg. He is followed closely by Williams (12.5 ppg), who has now scored in double figures in six consecutive games while Hubbs enters Tuesday’s game just 34 points shy of 1,000 career points.

UT is looking for its first season sweep of UK since 1998-99. An unranked UT team has beaten a ranked UK team 19 times.

Why Bet On Kentucky?

Kentucky freshmen De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo, both future NBA first-round picks, were not injured as passengers in a car accident that occurred Sunday afternoon as they were returning to campus.

The Cats beat Alabama 67-58 on Saturday. Isaiah Briscoe had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists to lead Kentucky. After posting 92 points in a win at LSU earlier in the week, UK’s 67 points in Tuscaloosa marked its second-fewest of the season. The Wildcats also got 17 points from Malik Monk and 14 from Adebayo. Kentucky made three of 15 3-point attempts, a 20 percent output that was its second worst of the season (1 of 9 – 11 percent at Vanderbilt)

UK held Alabama to 20 points in the first half, the fewest in the first half by a UK opponent this year. The previous low was 23 by Duquesne. UK is now 206-4 (.981) under John Calipari in games leading by at least 10 points. The Wildcats are 140-5 when limiting the opponent to 63 points or less under Coach Cal.

Monk’s 3-pointer from the right wing at the 15:26 mark, extended UK’s streak of consecutive games with a triple to 1,000. Kentucky is the first school to make a 3 in 1,000 straight games. The streak began Nov. 28, 1988, in an 89-71 win vs. California. Kentucky currently has a 771-229 record during its streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer.

Despite Saturday’s low-scoring affair at Alabama, Kentucky remains one of the top scoring teams in the country. Its 89.3 ppg average ranks fourth in the nation and is the second-best scoring average by a Power Five school, trailing only UCLA’s nation-leading 92.5 ppg. UK also leads the SEC in scoring margin (+15.6), field-goal percentage (.485), rebounding offense (40.3 rpg), blocked shots (5.8 bpg), assists (16.8 apg) and assist-to- turnover ratio (1.4).