Tennessee Vols’ SEC Tournament semifinals preview vs. Kentucky: Live stream, broadcast info, line, odds, prediction
After beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 72-59 Friday night, Tennessee basketball has advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The No. 2 seed Vols are now the highest-seeded team in the event, as the Texas A&M Aggies upset the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers Friday.
Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll, will face the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. The winner of this game will advance to the tournament championship and face the winner between the Arkansas Razorbacks and A&M.
John Calipari’s team comes into this game ranked No. 5 in both polls and on the heels of a tough 77-71 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores Friday. This is a rubber match for these two teams, as they split the season series. Here is all the information you need for the Vols’ next SEC Tournament matchup.
Tampa, Fla.. 3:30 p.m. ET. Saturday, March 14. 24-7 (14-4). 534. 26-6 (14-4). 528. Amalie Arena
Broadcast information
- TV: ESPN
- Live stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: Vol Network; UK Sports Network
- Listen online: UTSports; UKAthletics
Gambling odds according to WynnBET
- Line: Kentucky -2.5
- Over/Under: 137.5
- Moneyline: Kentucky -155; Tennessee +127
The Vols’ run this season can be traced back to the first matchup between these two schools. Kentucky blew them out in Lexington, Ky., 107-79, and they had fallen to 2-3 in SEC play and were barely clinging to a top 25 ranking.
After that, UT went on a run of eight straight SEC wins. They won 12 of their final 13 SEC games and 12 of their final 14 games overall. One of those wins was a rematch against Kentucky, which they ended up winning 76-63.
Now, there is some truth to the matter that Tyty Washington Jr. was playing that game for Kentucky hurt, and he barely saw any valuable minutes. Vol fans can counter with the fact that Olivier Nkamhoua was out. However, Nkamhoua is still out, and Washington is back.
In addition to being a regular season rubber match, this is somewhat of an SEC Tournament rubber match. UT lost to Kentucky in the tournament championship game in 2018 but beat them a year later in a thrilling semifinals matchup.
If you want to look at one advantage for the Vols in this game, it’s the fact that they took care of Mississippi State relatively easily Friday while Kentucky had to fight to put away Vandy, and the Kentucky-Vandy game was later, so they may be more tired. Also, UT has never lost a season series to Kentucky under Barnes.
Prediction
Washington was the reason Kentucky blew out the Vols in the first game, as he led all scorers with 28 points. As a result, UT had a huge advantage when he was injured the second time out. In Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals game against Vanderbilt, he had 25 points.
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Simply put, Washington is the difference. With the quick turnaround, he’ll still be feeling it, and Tennessee basketball won’t be able to counter. His shooting will allow the game to hit the Over 137.5, and take Kentucky -2.5 on the line because of him too. The score will look something like this: Kentucky 75 Tennessee 71.