Florida vs Tennessee Basketball Picks

Basketball Betting Game Trends

The Tennessee Volunteers (16-10 overall, 8-6 SEC) host the eighth-ranked Florida Gators (22-4 overall, 12-2 SEC) Tuesday at 9:00 PM ET in a nationally televised contest on ESPN. Florida is currently listed as a nine-point favorite.

Florida

The Gators suffered their second conference loss last Tuesday, a 63-60 defeat at Missouri, but bounced back strong Saturday with a 71-54 home win over Arkansas. Leading scorer Mike Rosario (G) led the way with 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Three other Gators cracked double figures in scoring as well. Balanced scoring appears to be the winning recipe for this team.

Florida is tough to beat when it spreads the wealth. Only two players reached double figures in scoring in the loss at Missouri and just three reached double-digits in the loss at Arkansas. The Gators will have an excellent chance to move one win closer to clinching the SEC championship if they can get all four of the guys that average more than 10.0 points to reach their averages.

Motivation doesn’t figure to be an issue for Florida here. It lost both of last season’s meetings with Tennessee after winning all three meetings the previous season. That can’t be sitting well.

Florida has been a good bet when momentum is on its side. In fact, it is 10-3 against the spread in its last 13 games following a win. It is also a reliable 6-2 against the number in its last eight road games.

Tennessee

The Vols have put a tough 3-7 stretch behind them and have won five in a row both straight up and against the spread. They edged Texas A&M on the road 93-85 in overtime Saturday. Four Vols reached double figures in scoring with Trae Golden leading the way with 32 points on 9 of 20 shooting. He did a lot of his damage from the foul line where he connected on 11 of 12 attempts.

Another big game from Golden could mean another big win for Tennessee. The star guard has scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games while averaging 6.7 assists during this span.

Golden was golden in each of last season’s meetings with Florida. He scored 12 points and dished out 7 assists in a 67-56 win at home. He poured in 17 points and had 7 dimes in a 75-70 victory in the road meeting.

Tennessee is a rock solid 15-7 against the spread in the last 22 meetings in the series, including 8-3 against the number in the last 11 home meetings. It is also worth noting that the underdog has covered the number in four of the last five matchups.

Prediction

Tennessee is playing its best basketball of the season and knows it needs this one for any hope of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Plus, the Vols catch Florida at a good time. The Gators are banged up. They have been without Will Yeguete (F) most of the month and now could be without Michael Frazier II (G). He’s currently listed as questionable after suffering a concussion against the Razorbacks. If Frazier II can’t go, the Gators will be looking at a six-man rotation. Billy Donovan has said that freshmen Braxton Ogbueze, Dillon Graham or DeVon Walker will have to step in and step up but he clearly doesn’t have much trust in these guys. Tennessee has nine guys who average at least 10 minutes a game so their depth gives them an advantage down the stretch. I lean Tennessee plus the points in this one.

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