Tennessee basketball opened as 1.5-point favorites for Saturday night’s top 10 tilt at Kentucky, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
The over/under has yet to be released.
The matchup between No. 5 Tennessee and No. 10 Kentucky is a near toss up. Analytical based site KenPom projects the Vols to earn an 80-78 victory. The opening betting line matches up with the prediction.
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Both Tennessee and Kentucky enter the matchup coming off of disappointing home losses earlier in the week. The Wildcats lost to Florida 94-91 in overtime on Wednesday night after blowing a last minute lead. The Vols never got into a rhythm against South Carolina and their late game push came up just short in a 63-59 loss.
More From RTI: What Rick Barnes Said Before Tennessee Faces Kentucky
The Vols enter the matchup 15-5 (5-2 SEC) badly needing a critical road victory to keep up in the SEC Championship race. But Kentucky is just as desperate (15-5, 5-3 SEC) having lost two of its last three games and escaping Arkansas with a narrow victory last Saturday.
After struggling in a pair of slow pace, low possession games the last week, Tennessee is facing the SEC’s fastest team in a Kentucky group that’s extremely dangerous in transition.
“The last two games we played, we played against teams that we’re going to play a more slower, lower possession game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said on Friday. “This game, I don’t think it’ll be a lower (possession) game because we’re going to do what we do. They’re going to do what they do. And with that in mind, I think it will be a high-level, high (possession) game.”
Tennessee has lost two straight against Kentucky dating back to it SEC Tournament Semifinal win over the Wildcats in 2022. The Vols have lost consecutive games in Rupp Arena dating back to their COVID-19 season victory at Kentucky. Despite the two straight losses, Rick Barnes still holds a 10-9 victory against Kentucky in his Tennessee tenure.
Tipoff at Rupp Arena is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes are on the call for ESPN.
