It’s been a perfect start to the season for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga is riding high at 10-0 heading into its last game against a marquee non-conference foe in the Tennessee Volunteers. The Bulldogs have already defeated five teams from power conferences this season, but facing Tennessee in its home state could be a tricky test. If Gonzaga can win this one, the Bulldogs have a shot to run the table and that would set them up with a No. 1 seed come tournament time.
At 4 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN2 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Sunday, December 18, 2016, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Sunday schedule.
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The Bulldogs have been a good team to wager on this season, posting a 5-2 ATS mark and have covered three in a row heading into their showdown against the Vols. Gonzaga has already knocked off Washington, Arizona, Iowa State, Florida, and San Diego State this season and Tennessee will be the last power conference team it plays. Under is 5-2 in Zags games.
Unlike most teams, who took this week off for finals, the Vols have stayed busy. Tennessee’s game against Gonzaga will be its fourth game in eight days and fatigue may be a factor. The Vols still have to face Lipscomb on Thursday night before they take on Gonzaga, but should be able to handle that squad easily. Tennessee had covered five straight before blowing a cover against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.
Last Year’s Meeting
Gonzaga raced out to a 16-point first-half advantage when these teams played last season, but Tennessee cut into that lead in the second half and ended up only losing by 7.
The key to the game for the Zags was the performance of Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis had a monster game against Tennessee, destroying Tennessee’s big men in the post on his way to a 36 point, 16 rebound performance. Rick Barnes’ squad could not stop him in the block and Sabonis ended up going to the line 15 times and snared 6 offensive rebounds.
Sabonis is off to the NBA now, but Gonzaga has a new big man that can dominate the paint in Przemek Karnowski. Karnowski missed almost all of last season due to an injury, but has returned healthy and is playing better than ever. He isn’t the rebounder that Sabonis was but will loom large against Tennessee.
Key Stat
Tennessee has been susceptible to big men this season if you dig into the box scores. When the Volunteers took on North Carolina last Sunday, the Tar Heels had their worst shooting performance of the season but still got the win because they were able to grab 19 offensive rebounds.
Rebounding doomed the Volunteers when they took on another big-name opponent this season too. Tennessee only managed to grab 19 rebounds when it faced Wisconsin out in Hawaii and the rebounding disparity played a big role in the Volunteers eventual loss. Even though the Badgers turned the ball over 17 times, Tennessee couldn’t stay within single digits.
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Rick Barnes has a leader in Robert Hubbs III, but has struggled to find the right mix of players to put on the floor to go with him. 11 Volunteers players have averaged over 10 minutes a game this season and it seems as if Barnes is still trying to figure out what works best. Tennessee may have some depth but at this point of the year, rotations should be pretty well set.
The partisan crowd is going to be a factor in this one and Tennessee will be able to battle with Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs are eventually going to push ahead and manage a close win.
College Basketball Odds: Gonzaga 76, Tennessee 72
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