Tennessee at Kentucky Pick and Preview
Tenn Vols (16-8) at Ky Wildcats (18-7) – Saturday, Feb. 21 - 1 p.m. Eastern - CBS
After a slower-than-expected start and a disastrous middle of the season, Tennessee has begun turning its season around in the past few weeks. The Volunteers will find out this week whether they've completed the turnaround with a pair of difficult road games, highlighted by Saturday's Tennessee at Kentucky contest.
CBS will televise the Tennessee Volunteers-Kentucky Wildcats game at 1 p.m. Eastern Saturday. Tennessee, which will play at Mississippi Wednesday night, has won four of its last five games entering this week. Prior to that, the Volunteers had struggled through a 3-5 stretch, which certainly was an unexpected set of results for a preseason Top 15 Volunteer team.
Kentucky has bounced back from its own swoon during a recent three-game SEC losing streak, by winning a home game against Florida and a road game against Arkansas last week. Both Tennessee and Kentucky enter this week with 7-3 SEC records. The Volunteers and Wildcats are tied with South Carolina atop the Eastern Division, one game ahead of Florida.
Season Results:Not much was expected of Kentucky in the preseason, as the Wildcats were unranked. Even less was expected after season-opening losses to VMI and North Carolina by a combined 27 points. But Kentucky roared back, winning 16 of its next 18 games and starting SEC play 5-0 before the three-game losing streak.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is certainly having a solid season at 16-8, but the Volunteers haven't lived up to their preseason billing. Tennessee has lost only once in a true road game in SEC play, a 78-77 setback at Auburn Feb. 7, which should be helpful with the two challenging road games this week.
GET THE BEST LINES AT DIAMOND SPORTSBOOK TO PLACE A BET ON THE TENN/KY GAME Tennessee and Kentucky met in Knoxville Jan. 13, and the Wildcats routed Tennessee, 90-72. Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks was unstoppable, scoring a school-record 54 points. Meeks made 10 of 15 3-point field goals and made all 14 of his free throws, while adding eight rebounds, four assists, and just one turnover, resulting in one of the most impressive performances by any player in the 2008-09 college basketball season. Meeks might be heating up again just in time for another Volunteers-Wildcats meeting, as he torched Arkansas for 45 points Saturday in a 79-63 Kentucky win.
Although the first Tennessee-Kentucky meeting produced plenty of offense, defense has been the key to playing winning basketball for both the Volunteers and Wildcats. Since Jan. 1, Kentucky is 6-1 when allowing 65 or fewer points and 1-3 when allowing more than 65 points. In the same time frame, Tennessee is 4-1 when allowing 65 or fewer points and 3-5 when allowing more than 65.
Point Spread Records:Kentucky is just 2-5 ATS over its past seven games, heading into Tuesday's game at Vanderbilt. Prior to that, the Wildcats had won eight of their previous nine games against the number.
Tennessee is 4-4 ATS over its past eight games, heading into Wednesday's game at Mississippi. The Volunteers haven't been an underdog since a 92-85 loss at Kansas Jan. 3 as a 3-point underdog. Tennessee also lost its only other game as an underdog this season, an 83-74 loss to Gonzaga on a neutral court Nov. 30 as a 2-point underdog.
In the first Tennessee-Kentucky meeting, the Volunteers lost outright as a 6-point favorite. That game marked the last time Kentucky was an underdog. As a home favorite this season, Kentucky is 5-6 ATS, but the Wildcats have lost four straight homes games ATS as a favorite in SEC play.
In 2008, Tennessee lost at Kentucky, 72-66, as a 5.5-point favorite. As a big underdog, the Volunteers also lost at Kentucky, 76-57, in 2007. As a 2.5-point underdog in 2006, Tennessee won at Kentucky, 75-67.
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