Tennessee basketball vs. Presbyterian: Live stream, TV and radio info, line, predictions, odds for Vols’ Nov. 30 matchup
Five days after struggling to put away the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, scoring an 80-69 win with a banged up squad, Tennessee basketball closes out the month of November with another home matchup against a lower-tier opponent. They’ll take the court with a 4-1 overall record.
Ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, Rick Barnes’ team will host the Presbyterian Blue Hose, who traveled from South Carolina to visit Rocky Top. This will be their final home game before a couple of matchups against Power Five foes, one on the road and one at a neutral site.
Presbyterian comes in at 5-2 under third-year head coach Quinton Ferrell and on the heels of three straight wins over the Thanksgiving break in the Uno Classic in New Orleans. Here is all the information you need for Tennessee basketball’s matchup.
Presbyterian Blue Hose at Tennessee Volunteers
When: Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network
Live stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Vol Network; 98.3 FM and1400 AM (Spartanburg, S.C.); 97.1 WPCX (Clinton, S.C.)
Listen online: UTSports; TuneIn
Line according to WynnBET: Tennessee -24.5
Over/Under according to WynnBET: 131.5
After going 10-22 his first year and 7-15 last year, Ferrell, a Presbyterian alum, appears to have his program rolling. Based in Clinton, S.C., the Blue Hose returned all five starters and their top nine rotational players from a year ago.
That has made them dangerous, and their only losses are on the road against the Clemson Tigers and the Cincinnati Bearcats. Most recently, they beat the Central Arkansas Bears 75-66, so the Vols have to watch out for them.
Against Tennessee Tech, UT was still without Josiah-Jordan James, who had a torn ligament in his finger and was ill the week before. Justin Powell was also out of that game due to an illness. Add in John Fulkerson missing the start of the season due to recovering from a fractured thumb, and this team has a lot of getting healthy to do.
With those injuries, it’s crucial the Vols don’t look ahead of this game, but that’ll be hard. Their next game is Saturday on the road against the Colorado Buffaloes, and then they’ll face the Texas Tech Red Raiders in New York for the Jimmy V Classic next Tuesday. Presbyterian will next face the Bob Jones Bruins at home on Saturday.
Prediction
All of this goes out the window of Tennessee basketball has one of its red-hot three-point shooting nights. However, the combination of looking ahead to this weekend and players either still hurt or being rusty coming back from injury will keep UT from covering.
Take the Vols to win, but like on Friday, they’ll start slow and pull away in the second half. As a result, Presbyterian +24.5 is a good bet, and early sloppy play on offense will result in this game hitting the Under 131.5. The game will look something like this: Tennessee: 71 Presbyterian: 53.