Tennessee basketball vs. LSU: Odds, picks and prediction

The Tennessee basketball team will continue its SEC portion of the schedule with a road game against LSU.

The No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers will be heading down to Baton Rouge tomorrow at 4pm ET for a matchup against the LSU Tigers.

Tuesday night’s SEC matchup between the Tennessee Volunteers and Mississippi State Bulldogs played out much differently than the game two weeks ago. In this neck-and-neck battle, it came down to the final 5 minutes before the Vols were able to pull away, unlike the 34-point blowout in the first matchup.

Tennessee basketball will now shift their focus to a dangerous LSU team that hasn’t been given enough credit that they deserve.

Tennessee basketball notes

In Wednesday’s game against Mississippi State, the Vols were able to capitalize on many opportunities, and key players stepped up to win them the game. Players like Zakai Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James, who combined for 7 three-pointers, stepped up in a big way last game and will likely continue this into Saturday.

Another key player from the last game was Julian Phillips. He stepped up in a huge way, putting together an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double. Phillips helped pave the way for the Volunteers’ huge road SEC victory.

The Volunteers are likely getting back 2 key players that were missing the last game. Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key should be back for the game tomorrow, and always make a big impact on the floor. Vescovi is still a question mark with his hurt shoulder, but Key’s fever has faded and he will most likely play.

LSU basketball notes

KJ Williams has been dominant for LSU so far this season. He has been their best most reliable player to date. Williams averages 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 steal a game. He leads both their offense and defense.

However, despite Williams’s impressive play, they haven’t been able to find any type of consistent offense during the SEC play. Adam Miller has been one player who has been struggling a lot from the floor, even though he takes a high number of shots.

Cam Hayes has also been struggling tremendously in his return to the starting lineup, and the freshman guards, Jalen Reed and Tyrell Ward have been nonexistent so far this year.

Tennessee basketball odds and pick vs LSU

As we dive into the metrics between the Volunteers and Tigers there is only one way to bet on this game.

According to KenPom, Tennessee basketball has an advantage in the following statistics:

AdjEM (Adjusted efficiency margin), AdjO (Adjusted offensive efficiency), and AdjD (Adjusted defensive efficiency). So basically, Tennessee is more efficient, better offensively, and better defensively.

Although the statistics point to the Vols, it’s not all black and white. One key statistic we need to look at is home-court advantage. LSU has a great home court, and you can bet that Baton Rouge will be buzzing on Saturday night. This is a rivalry game and it’s a game that LSU needs to win to stop slipping in the SEC rankings.

However, I don’t think that Tennessee is going to give them any hope or life in this game. As long as the Vols get out to a fast and early start, they should have no problem covering this spread. If the Vols punch them in the mouth early and take the crowd out of the game, this game will be over by halftime.

If the Tigers can hang around in this game and gain some momentum, the Volunteers may be in for a long day in southern Louisiana.

Pick: Tennessee Volunteers -11 (-110). I would play this to -11.5.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.