Missouri Tigers vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, 1/23/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Missouri Tigers vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date: Saturday, January 23, 2021

Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN

TV: SECN

Odds/Point Spread: Missouri (+6)

The Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) host the Missouri Tigers (9-2) at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday. Tennessee opens this contest as 6-point favorites. The total opens at 131.5.

Missouri heads into this matchup with a record of 9-2 for the year. The Tigers are shooting 27.9% from downtown (62 of 222) and 72.5% from the free throw line. They are averaging 72.4 points per game (181st in college hoops) while going 45.8% from the floor. They lose possession by turning the ball over 14.4 times per game and as a squad they are committing 20.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Missouri is pulling down 37.5 rebounds per game and has racked up 141 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 233rd in the country in terms of passing. When they are on defense, the Tigers are forcing 12.2 turnovers every game and they draw 19.6 fouls. The Tigers defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 39.3% (261 of 664) and they surrender 34.6 boards per game as a basketball team. They rank 68th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 112 surrendered so far this year. They relinquish 27.4% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 87th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (66.6).

The Missouri Tigers played the South Carolina Gamecocks and notched a win by a score of 81-70 in their last contest. Missouri ended with a 58.3% field goal percentage (28 out of 48) and converted 5 of their 13 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Tigers converted 20 of their 30 shots for a rate of 66.7%. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they collected 31 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 16 dimes for this contest while having 8 steals and 4 blocked shots. Concerning defense, Missouri allowed the other team to go 58.3% from the floor on 28 of 48 shooting. South Carolina totaled 15 dimes and had 5 steals for this contest. Additionally, the Gamecocks collected 31 rebounds (16 offensive, 15 defensive) and added 4 rejections. South Carolina finished the game shooting 42.1% at the free throw line by burying 8 of 19 attempts. They also buried 8 of their 28 tries from three-point range.

Jeremiah Tilmon is a guy who was a factor for this contest. He had 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He saw the court for 32 mins played and also totaled 10 boards. Tilmon finished the contest at 72.7% from the field and recorded 2 assists. Someone else that was a major factor in this contest for the Tigers was Mark Smith. He pulled down 2 rebounds and also accumulated 2 assists. He finished the game shooting 55.6% from the field in this game by shooting 5-of-9 (18 points). When the final whistle blew, Smith played 37 min.

Tennessee has a win-loss record of 10-2 for the season. Tennessee has scored 898 points on the campaign (74.8 per contest) and they grab 37.2 rebounds per contest. The Volunteers commit 15.6 personal fouls every game and they connect on 72.0% from the free throw line. When it comes to offensive execution, the Volunteers are hitting on 45.3% from the floor, which ranks 132nd in the country. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 15.5 times per game (69th in college hoops) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.6 times per contest. The Volunteers on the defensive side of the court are 5th in college basketball in PPG given up with 58.7. They have relinquished 9.6 assists and 32.4 boards per contest, which is 16th and 74th in those defensive categories. The Tennessee defense gives up 30.4% on shots from beyond the arc (79 of 260) and opponents are knocking down 68.0% of their foul shots. They are able to force 17.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 39.5% from the field (42nd in college basketball).

When they last stepped on the court, the Tennessee Volunteers took a loss by a score of 75-49 against the Florida Gators. The Volunteers were able to pull down 18 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 for the game. They blocked 3 shots while earning 6 steals for the matchup. The Gators had 22 fouls for the game which got the Volunteers to the free throw line for 25 attempts. They were able to knock down 12 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 48.0%. With regard to 3-pointers, Tennessee knocked down 3 out of 18 tries (16.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Volunteers ended up going 17 for 58 from the field which gave them a percentage of 29.3%. The Volunteers allowed the Gators to bury 31 out of their 63 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 49.2% for the contest. They went 31.6% from distance via 6 of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 7 of 11 at the free throw line (63.6%). Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Tennessee allowed Florida to grab 37 overall (12 offensive).

John Fulkerson was important for the Volunteers for this game. He converted 6 of 9 in this contest for a field goal rate of 66.7%, which earned him 15 points. Fulkerson pulled down 4 boards in his 30 minutes and had 5 dimes in the matchup. An additional guy that ended up playing a role for Tennessee was Keon Johnson. He notched 8 points in his 33 minutes on the court by going 3 of 10 shooting for this contest. Johnson finished going 30.0% from the floor and also totaling 3 assists and 2 total rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Missouri (+6)

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