Kentucky Wildcats vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, 2/15/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date: Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN

TV: ESPN

The Kentucky Wildcats (21-4) are hitting the road to Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday where they will attempt to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers (18-6).

The Kentucky Wildcats faced Florida and walked away with a win by a score of 78-57 in their last game. In reference to fouls, the Wildcats ended up with 9 and Florida finished the game with 13 fouls. They also knocked down 5 of their 22 tries from beyond the arc. Florida finished 100.0% at the charity stripe by burying 6 of 6 tries. In addition, Florida collected 22 rebounds (5 offensive, 17 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Florida earned 8 dimes and had 3 steals in this game. In the matter of defending, Kentucky let their opponent shoot 45.1% from the floor on 23 out of 51 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists in this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and having 7 steals. Concerning rebounding, they compiled 39 with 17 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats knocked down 6 of their 9 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. Kentucky ended the contest with a 46.3% field goal percentage (31 of 67) and made 10 out of their 27 3-point shots.

Oscar Tshiebwe is a player who came through for this game. He finished the contest at 61.1% from the field and also distributed 2 dimes. He played 38 mins and collected 19 rebounds. He totaled 27 points on 11 out of 18 shooting.

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Kentucky comes into this matchup with a mark of 21-4 on the campaign. They turn it over 11.9 times per game and as a group are committing 14.2 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Kentucky is grabbing 41.2 boards per game and has 428 assists so far this season, which is 11th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Wildcats are hitting 35.6% on 3-point shots (164 of 461) and 72.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 81.3 points per contest (9th in Division 1) while connecting on 49.1% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Wildcats have forced 12.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.4 fouls. They are currently ranked 81st in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 273 relinquished this year. The Wildcats defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 40.3% (600 of 1,488) and they surrender 30.2 boards per contest as a team. They are surrendering 29.0% on shots from distance and they are 50th in D-1 in opponents PPG (64.2).

For their last game, the Tennessee Volunteers got the victory with a final of 73-64 against Vanderbilt. The Volunteers earned 26 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards for a total of 41 in this contest. They gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while recording 5 steals for this contest. Vanderbilt was called for 23 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Volunteers to the free throw line for 31 attempts. They were able to bury 22 of those for a clip of 71.0%. In reference to shots from beyond the perimeter, Tennessee made 7 out of 22 tries (31.8%). In all, the Volunteers shot 22 for 60 from the floor which had them shooting 36.7%. The Volunteers permitted Vanderbilt to convert 20 of their 49 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 40.8% in this matchup. They finished 37.0% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 10 out of 27 and walked away from this one shooting 14 out of 20 at the free throw line (70.0%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, Tennessee permitted Vanderbilt to get 27 in all (2 offensive).

Zakai Zeigler ended up having an impact for the Volunteers for the matchup. He knocked down 5 out of 10 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 2 rebounds. He totaled 16 points in his 28 minutes on the hardwood and added 5 dimes in this contest.

Tennessee has a record of 18-6 on the campaign. The Volunteers commit 16.5 personal fouls every game while shooting 70.2% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 16.8 times per contest (13th in college basketball) and they turn it over 12.5 times per contest. Tennessee has 1,785 pts so far this season (74.4 per contest) and they pull down 36.4 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Volunteers are connecting on 43.6% from the floor, which ranks 212th in the nation.

The Volunteers defensively are ranked 33rd in the country in points allowed per game with 63.1. They are forcing 17.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.7% from the floor (107th in college hoops). The Tennessee defense gives up 33.1% on 3-point shots (173 of 523) and their opponents are connecting on 68.6% of their free throw shots. They allow 11.5 assists and 33.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 90th and 99th in those categories.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kentucky

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