Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Alabama (+9.5)

The Alabama Crimson Tide (6-3) go to Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday where they'll meet the Tennessee Volunteers (7-0). Alabama opens this matchup as 9.5-point underdogs. The over/under is set at 143.5.

Alabama enters this matchup with a mark of 6-3 for the year. They are turning it over 13.3 times per game and as a group are committing 18.2 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Alabama is snagging 40.8 rebounds per game and has totaled 123 dimes on the year, which is 91st in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Crimson Tide are shooting 30.5% on 3-pointers (85 of 279) and 67.5% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 77.3 points per contest (104th in the nation) while shooting 41.8% from the field. On the defensive end, the Crimson Tide are forcing 16.2 turnovers every game and they draw 20.7 personal fouls. They are giving up 31.9% on 3-point attempts and they are 179th in the nation in PPG allowed (70.4). The Crimson Tide defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 42.3% (230 of 544) and they surrender 38.4 rebounds per contest as a team. They are 199th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 100 relinquished on the year.

The Alabama Crimson Tide faced the Ole Miss Rebels and notched a win by a score of 82-64 in their last contest. Alabama ended the game with a 43.1% FG percentage (28 of 65) and converted 12 out of their 37 shots from beyond the perimeter. When they shot from the free throw line, the Crimson Tide buried 14 of 24 shots for a percentage of 58.3%. When it comes to hauling in boards, they compiled 44 with 13 of them being offensive. They also doled out 15 dimes in the matchup while earning 6 steals and 5 rejections. In terms of defense, Alabama allowed their opponent to shoot 43.1% from the floor on 28 of 65 shooting. Ole Miss doled out 3 assists and had 7 steals for the game. Moreover, the Rebels snagged 44 rebounds (17 offensive, 27 defensive) and had 5 blocked shots. Ole Miss ended up shooting 54.3% from the free throw line by making 19 of their 35 shots. They also buried 1 out of their 13 tries from 3-point range.

Jahvon Quinerly is a player who played a role in this game. He accounted for 24 points on 8 out of 14 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 32 minutes played and also pulled down 5 rebounds. Quinerly finished shooting 57.1% from the floor and earned 2 assists. An additional guy that was a factor in this contest for the Crimson Tide was John Petty. He grabbed 6 rebounds and also had 2 assists. He shot 45.5% from the floor in this game by connecting on 5-of-11 (13 points). At the conclusion of this game, Petty saw the court for 27 min.

Tennessee has a win-loss record of 7-0 this season. The Volunteers have committed 15.6 fouls per contest and they connect on 76.3% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 16.3 times per game (60th in college basketball) and they turn it over 10.7 times per game. Tennessee has totaled 558 pts this year (79.7 per game) and they pull in 40.0 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Volunteers are shooting 47.7% from the floor, which is 96th in the nation. The Volunteers are ranked 2nd in college hoops in points given up per game with 52.7. They give up 9.0 dimes and 29.0 rebounds every game, which ranks them 14th and 19th in D-1. The Tennessee defense surrenders 27.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (42 of 155) and opponents are converting on 66.3% of their free throw attempts. They are able to force 18.1 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 36.2% from the field (9th in D-1).

In their last game, the Tennessee Volunteers walked away with a victory by a final of 73-53 when they faced the Missouri Tigers. The Volunteers were able to corral 22 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 31 for the game. They also rejected 5 shots while getting 8 steals in the game. The Tigers had 24 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Volunteers to the charity stripe for a total of 24 tries. They were able to make 14 of those for a rate of 58.3%. Pertaining to three-point shots, Tennessee knocked down 5 out of 7 tries (71.4%). In all, the Volunteers went 27 out of 54 from the field which had them shooting 50.0%. The Volunteers permitted the Tigers to convert 16 of their 44 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.4% in the game. They went 18.8% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 3 of 16 and ended up going 18 out of 30 from the free throw line (60.0%). With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, Tennessee permitted Missouri to get 30 overall (7 on the offensive glass).

Santiago Vescovi ended up being important for the Volunteers for the contest. He converted 5 of 7 in this contest for a rate of 71.4%, which got him 15 points. Vescovi snagged 3 boards in his 26 minutes played and had 2 dimes for this contest. An additional guy who came through for Tennessee was Yves Pons. He was able to score 13 points in his 30 minutes on the court by way of 5 out of 9 from the floor in the game. Pons wrapped this one up going 55.6% from the field and also collecting 2 assists and 6 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Alabama (+9.5)

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