Florida Gators vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, 3/7/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Florida Gators vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date: Sunday, March 7, 2021

Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN

TV: ESPNU

Odds/Point Spread: Florida (+5.5)

The Florida Gators (13-7) travel to Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday where they'll meet the Tennessee Volunteers (16-7). Tennessee opens this matchup as 5.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 137.5.

Florida comes into this game with a win-loss record of 13-7 on the year. They have an average of 75.6 pts per game (73rd in the country) while connecting on 47.2% from the floor. The Gators are hitting 35.9% on shots from beyond the arc (138 of 384) and 76.0% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Florida is collecting 35.5 boards per contest and has accumulated 244 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 262nd in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 14.7 times per contest and as a group they are committing 19.1 personal fouls every game. On defense, the Gators are able to force 15.0 turnovers every game and they draw 18.1 fouls. They currently rank 111th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 249 surrendered on the campaign. The Gators defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.1% (490 of 1,165) and they relinquish 34.0 rebounds per game as a group. They are surrendering 31.2% on shots from distance and they rank 175th in the country in PPG allowed (70.0).

The Florida Gators took the court against the Missouri Tigers and ended up losing by a score of 72-70 in their last game. Florida ended the game with a 58.1% field goal percentage (25 of 43) and converted 5 of their 14 shots from downtown. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Gators knocked down 15 of their 18 attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they earned 28 with 4 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 11 assists for this contest while creating 11 turnovers and having 5 steals. Concerning defending, Florida allowed the other team to go 45.9% from the field on 28 of 61 shooting. Missouri earned 14 dimes and had 9 steals in the game. Furthurmore, Missouri had 21 rebounds (10 offensive, 11 defensive) and had 2 blocks. Missouri finished shooting 63.6% from the charity stripe by burying 7 of their 11 tries. They also converted 9 out of their 22 shots from three-point range.

Tre Mann is one guy who played a role in the matchup. He finished with 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 37 mins and also snagged 3 boards. Mann walked away from this one shooting 81.8% from the field and distributed 3 assists. An additional guy that was a major factor in the game for the Gators was Tyree Appleby. He had 5 rebounds in 32 min on the basketball court. He ended up shooting 42.9% from the floor for this game by connecting on 3-of-7 (12 points). Overall, Appleby tallied 5 assists.

Tennessee has a win-loss mark of 16-7 on the season. The Volunteers commit 16.4 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 74.9% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 15.0 times per game (72nd in college hoops) and they are turning it over 12.2 times per contest. Tennessee has accounted for 1,674 pts on the year (72.8 per contest) and they collect 35.7 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Volunteers are shooting 44.4% from the field, which ranks 171st in college basketball. The Volunteers on the defensive side of the court are 25th in the country in PPG surrendered with 63.1. They are forcing 15.7 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 40.1% from the floor (27th in college hoops). The Tennessee defense allows 32.0% on 3-pointers (154 of 482) and opponents are knocking down 72.4% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 10.3 dimes and 33.6 rebounds every game, which ranks them 19th and 112th in D-1.

In their last game, the Tennessee Volunteers took a loss by a score of 77-72 when they played the Auburn Tigers. The Volunteers were able to snag 19 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 30 for this contest. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while recording 6 steals for the game. The Tigers had 16 personal fouls in this contest which took the Volunteers to the charity stripe for a total of 10 attempts. They were able to make 9 of those for a clip of 90.0%. With respect to 3-pointers, Tennessee knocked down 11 of their 28 tries (39.3%). Overall, the Volunteers went 26 out of 63 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.3%. The Volunteers allowed the Tigers to bury 22 of their 55 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 40.0% for the game. They finished shooting 34.6% from three-point range by going 9 out of 26 and finished the game at 24 of 37 at the charity stripe (64.9%). When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, Tennessee permitted Auburn to collect 36 overall (14 offensive).

Keon Johnson was important for the Volunteers for this game. He buried 9 of 17 in this game for a field goal rate of 52.9%, and tallied 3 rebounds. Johnson accumulated 23 points in his 37 mins of playing time and accounted for 1 assist in this matchup. One more player who was a determining factor for Tennessee was Jaden Springer. He left the arena with 6 assists in 31 mins played, and he knocked down 6 out of 14 from the floor. Springer ended the game having shot 42.9% from the field while also earning 20 points and 5 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Tennessee (-5.5)

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