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No. 5 Tennessee at Georgia: How To Watch, Betting Odds, Complete Preview

Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee basketball heads back on the road Saturday as they face a Georgia team riding a 10-game winning streak.

The Vols are looking to bounce back from a narrow 77-72 loss at Mississippi State that saw them fall behind by 15 points and tie the game in the final minute before losing in regulation. Tennessee is in need of its first road SEC win in its hunt to win the SEC Championship.

Here’s everything to know about the matchup.

More From RTI: Everything Rick Barnes Said Before Tennessee Faces Georgia

How to Watch – No. 5 Tennessee (11-4, 1-1 SEC) at Georgia (12-3, 2-0 SEC)

  • Start Time: noon ET/11 a.m. CT
  • Location: Stegeman Coliseum
  • TV: ESPN2. PxP: Kevin Fitzgerald. CC: Dane Bradshaw.
  • Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
  • Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App

Betting Lines

Draft Kings

  • Tennessee -7 Georgia
  • Over/under: 144

KenPom

  • Tennessee -7 Georgia
  • Over/under: 143

What HC Rick Barnes Said About Georgia

On what stands out about Georgia 

“Well, one, they’ve got to be a confident team. Obviously they’ve won 10 in a row, they’re off to a good start shoot the ball well. I think they really have gelled in the fact that they know exactly how they want to play. A lot of one-on-one. Mike (White has) done a great job of putting them in position where they’re confident and know that they get into their offense quick. Any shot they see opening, they’re going to take it. And Mike’s a terrific coach and I’m not surprised at where he got the program right now.”

On the challenge of guarding a Georgia team with a lot of shooters

“We’ve dealt with that a lot the last couple years. I mean, you go back and look and there’s a lot of teams doing that and got to be able to do a lot of different things. Against pressure, they get into a quick ball screen a lot and they spread you out and they’ve got guys that are going to shoot the ball when they’re open and it’s tough. You got to do a lot of multiple things. You got to handle the action at the ball, but you got to have those guys on the back side ready to rotate and try to keep the ball in front of them.”

Probable Starters

Tennessee (via UT Game Notes)

Georgia (via UGA Game Notes)

Team Statistics (via Sports Reference)

Tennessee:

Georgia:

Stat Leaders

Tennessee:

Points: Dalton Knecht — 15.9 PPG, 46.3 FG%, 37.1 3PT%

Rebounds: Josiah-Jordan James — 7 RPG, 5.4 DRPG, 1.6 ORPG

Assists: Zakai Zeigler — 5.1 APG, 2.1 TOPG, 27.3 MPG

Georgia:

Points: Noah Thomasson — 12.7 PPG, 45.3 FG%, 38.2 3PT%

Rebounds: Russel Tchewba — 6.7 RPG, 5.0 DRPG, 1.7 ORPG

Assists: Justin Hill — 3.2 APG, 1.2 TOPG, 23.5 MPG

Last Five Games

Tennessee:

  • 77-72 loss at Mississippi State
  • 90-64 win versus Ole Miss
  • 87-50 win versus Norfolk State
  • 65-46 win versus Tarleton State
  • 79-70 win over North Carolina State (San Antonio)

Georgia:

  • 76-66 win versus Arkansas
  • 75-68 win at Missouri
  • 93-73 win versus Alabama A&M
  • 78-60 win versus North Florida
  • 94-82 win versus Mount St. Mary’s

Prediction

Tennessee heads on the road again needing a win after a tough loss at Mississippi State on Wednesday night. While Georgia is far from a basketball power, the Vols have struggled at Stegeman Coliseum over the years with even their wins typically coming in narrow fashion.

But from a matchup standpoint I like this game a lot for Tennessee. Georgia doesn’t have much interior scoring and doesn’t have one true stud you have to worry about. They also struggle to score at the basket with their perimeter players which makes it feel like Georgia has to shoot the ball well from the perimeter to have much offensive success.

Georgia is solid defensively and is not a team that Tennessee is just going to easily blow past. But the Bulldogs don’t force many turnovers and struggle on the glass. That raises the floor for Tennessee’s offense in this game.

The Vols lead for the majority of the game and hold on at the end for their first road SEC win.

Tennessee 74, Georgia 69

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